Episode 159

Episode #154 - Making The Hard Work Happen Without Burnout: An Interview With Katie Santoro

We are all designed in various ways. Whether we are wired to be more analytical, more creative, or a combination of both, we all bring different perspectives, knowledge, skills, and abilities to the table. Even with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), there are cases to be made of the vast importance of human ingenuity. Humans, however, have limits. Where can we divert our attention to in order to ensure that burnout does not occur? Today's unique guest, owner of River City Virtual Assistants, Katie Santoro, shares her story of burnout from multiple jobs in various careers and how this startup became a way to empower others, not only through her team, but the clients that she serves, to become more focused, energized, and attentive to what their ultimate purpose of their businesses are. Through the help of virtual assistants, a lot can be accomplished, but the mindset of learning and expanding our opportunities also goes along with the same drive and determination that we have to be successful. Diving into what is truly important, this episode will leave you with a sense of fulfilled purpose, knowing that there will always be a team that will "have your back."

Guest Bio

Katie is a burnout survivor on a mission to help others avoid the same by offering virtual assistance to business owners and busy professionals, while simultaneously creating employment for individuals needing flexibility. In 2019, Katie left her corporate job in the insurance industry to run her first business, a yoga studio, after experiencing burnout. When she closed her yoga studio during the pandemic, she began considering a return to corporate life. Knowing she couldn't return without risking another burnout, she used her experiences in the legal and insurance industry, with running a small business, and began assisting clients as a freelancer. As she grew, she recruited from her network of friends who were leaving the workforce due to the struggles of childcare during the pandemic, and River City Virtual Assistants was born. The company is dedicated to providing assistance to clients and is committed to providing meaningful employment to parents and caretakers within the USA.

@rivercity_va on Instagram

Website: https://rivercity-va.com/

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Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs

Transcript
Intro:

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

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determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

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This is Speaking From The Heart.

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Joshua: Welcome back to episode

number 154 of Speaking from the Heart.

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Today, we have Katie Santoro, and Katie

is a burnout survivor on a mission

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to help others avoid the same by

offering virtual assistance to business

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owners and busy professionals while

simultaneously creating employment

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for individuals needing flexibility.

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In 2019, Katie left her corporate

job in the insurance industry to

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run her first business, a yoga

studio, after experiencing burnout.

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When she closed her yoga studio

during the pandemic, she began

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considering a return to corporate life.

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Knowing she couldn't return without

risking another burnout, she used her

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experiences in the legal and insurance

industry with running a small business and

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began assisting clients as a freelancer.

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As she grew, she recruited from her

network of friends who were leaving

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the workforce due to struggles of

child care during the pandemic, and

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River City Virtual Assistants was born.

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The company is dedicated to providing

assistance to clients and is committed to

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providing meaningful employment to parents

and caretakers within the United States.

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I love this episode

for many, many reasons.

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It's given me even new hope on the

fact that the era of virtual assistants

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is here to stay, but Katie's story is

one of the many stories that we often

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hear, even post-COVID world, about how

the skills sometimes that we're left

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behind, have been transferred, they have

been accumulating into what ultimately

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becomes opportunities for others, become

the best versions of who they are.

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I love that she even involves herself

today with talking about her employment,

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why that was such a big catalyst to

starting this conversation, to starting

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this business that she has now, and how

she helps so many people, regardless of

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what they might have as businesses, and

managing the expectations that they have

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to have, in order to have those demands

be met at the times that are needed.

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I think you will find that Katie's

story about burnout is quite different

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from other stories and how she's

turned that burnout into purpose,

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and how she's been able to help so

many find their purpose as well.

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But with that, let's go to the episode.

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All right.

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We're here with Katie Santoro.

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Katie, thanks for sharing

your heart with us today.

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Katie: Thank you.

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I'm glad to be here.

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Joshua: I am so glad that you are here

too, and I feel like we have a lot to

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cover today, and we have a lot in common

from what I read to my audience about

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you, so Katie, I did let them know a

little bit about your background, but

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I have to start from the roots, the

origin story, of what you started.

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Obviously, you started a business after

a lot of events happened in your life,

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and I find that we have that similarity

in our life, so I have to follow this.

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This is like an interesting trail for me.

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You did insurance as a first business,

then you did a yoga studio, and then

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after that, it was the pandemic, and

then you started the current business.

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Walk us through why the different

jobs, and what led to the

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burnout that you experienced.

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Katie: There's a lot of overlap in

all of those things, so my career

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was in the legal and insurance world.

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My last job was working in insurance

claims, and I did that for a little over

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five years and a couple of years into it,

I felt like I needed more in life, and I

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opened a yoga studio, so the yoga studio

and the career happened at the same time.

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They coincided, and that's

what led to the burnout.

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In 2019, I finally got to the point

where I knew that I could not stay in

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my career if I wanted to live the life

that I wanted to live, and I left.

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I left my job.

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I was running the yoga studio.

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That was my full time gig, if you will.

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Actually, my full time gig at that

time was healing from burnout, because

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I had gotten to the point where it

was affecting every part of my life,

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so the yoga studio was going on.

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I went to Costa Rica to get

some more training in yoga.

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Also part of my healing journey

really helped me heal energetically.

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While I was there, the border shut

down; I was there in March of:

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and yeah, I came home, I figured out

how to run a yoga studio online, ran

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it online for a couple of months,

and then originally, what was it?

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We were going to close down for two weeks,

right, and then it was seven weeks, and

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it just kind of kept on going on and

on, and I was teaching classes out of my

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office on Zoom, and I still had bills to

pay for the physical studio that I had.

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We had a personal guaranteed lease,

which was really scary for me, and

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I was going to go back to work.

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I could go back to my old job.

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I could find another job.

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I have tons of experience.

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I have licenses and certifications.

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I could do whatever I needed to

do, and my now husband talked

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me out of it, and he was right.

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He said, "You were a monster.

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You can't go back.", and he's so right.

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If I had gone back it would have

been extremely detrimental to

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my emotional and mental well

being, so I started freelancing

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as an administrative assistant.

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Skills I had; things that I could

work with, and the business has

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really just grown from there.

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First, I found a lot of clients that

needed what I could give, which was

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being reliable, being consistent,

knowing how to do the admin work.

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I'm very curious.

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I always like to figure

out how to get things done.

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I'm a natural problem solver, and then

I started realizing that there was a lot

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of women in my same situation who had

left work or were not returning to work

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because of COVID, and for a lot of them,

it was childcare; taking care of their

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children, and that's kind of how we grew.

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I started recruiting people, women

from my network that wanted to work,

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but wanted to work virtually, and

matching them with clients that I had.

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I have more clients than I could handle

who needed good, strong assistance.

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Joshua: Finding that good assistant,

or finding someone that has the skill

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sets that you have, I have to say.

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First off, there was a lot that you shared

with just the different fields that you've

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been in, because for many people to be

able to take that in one big package and

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be like, "This is what I can offer you."

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That takes some great creativity and

opportunity, and you capitalized on

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something that for many years now,

a lot of people were like, "Eh.

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I don't know how this would work.",

but the pandemic kind of pushed

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everybody to think outside the box.

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Now, I have to ask you this because

you said something that is, for many

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listeners, they probably never really

heard this other side of what COVID is

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all about, so you were in Costa Rica,

and you were teaching yoga virtually?

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Is that what you were doing?

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Katie: No, no.

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I was in Costa Rica taking a training.

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I was getting my 500 hour yoga

certification, and when I got back-

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I actually started before I got back,

because we knew what was going on.

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It was very weird.

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I remember calling my husband and

being like, "What is going on at

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home?", because here, we're like

in this little bubble, right?

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We're in this yoga retreat.

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You're with 27 other people.

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Everybody's holding hands and hugging, and

it's just like this little yoga bubble,

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and I was like, "What in the world is

going on at home?", and he was like,

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"Well, things are starting to shut down.

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People are freaking out.

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There's no toilet paper.", you know.

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All of those things, so I

started connecting with my

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students virtually at that point.

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I sent an email out to everybody.

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I said, "I'm in Costa Rica.

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I'd love to have a class, just

virtually on Zoom to connect with

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you all.", and then the next day,

the school that I was at closed.

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They basically said, "You don't have

to go home, but you can't stay here.

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The borders are closing.

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You got to go.", so I came home and

immediately started teaching yoga.

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Everything was closed by the

time I got home and immediately

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started teaching online.

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Joshua: Okay.

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You had me nervous there

for a second like, "Oh.

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Well, I was stuck in Costa Rica for a

few months.", and I almost thought that

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maybe you had to work through that,

but even then that's still a challenge.

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Katie: There were people that stayed,

and it was interesting because in a

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yoga training, you're with people who

are 18 to 60, across the gamut, and

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there were some people that decided to

stay because they were like, "Well, the

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borders are closing, but that doesn't mean

that my country won't let me back in."

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I'm like, "They will let you back

in, but are you going to be able

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to get a flight home?", so for

me, I was like," I'm going home.

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I'm getting this flight.

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I'm getting home as soon as I can to

be where I need to be.", but again,

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at that time, we just thought we were

going to be closed down for two weeks.

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Joshua: That's very smart that you were

thinking like, "Maybe I should get out of

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here and not be trapped here.", so that

was a smart move on your part because

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I remember that I took a trip to Paris

about two months before, and there were

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some rumblings of it, because in January

:

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world stage, but it wasn't anything that

really hit home, but I was thinking, "Man.

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If this would have happened to me

when I was taking this trip to Paris,

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when I was overseas, I wonder what the

logistical nightmare would have been."

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I would have been freaking out.

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I would have needed to

hire a virtual assistant.

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Katie: There was a group of people in

the yoga community, in the city that

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I'm from, they were in Peru doing a

training, and they couldn't get back,

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and they had to charter a private plane,

and there was a big GoFundMe to get them

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home, just because the borders are open

doesn't mean that people have to fly you

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back, so the airline shut down Anyways.

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Joshua: No, it's a very fascinating aspect

of it, so here's another question I have

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before we dive into your business, because

I think this might've set some of the

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stage for what you ultimately started.

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Do you feel that learning to adjust

with the different technologies that

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you had to utilize, especially with

yoga and things like that, do you think

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that was the precursor to helping you

start your business that you now run?

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Katie: Absolutely.

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When I first opened the yoga studio,

I didn't know what the heck I was

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doing, so I hired a business coach.

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Everyone should at some point

work with a business coach.

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I also worked with a coach when I

started this business, but the coaching

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program that I did for the yoga

studio was very technical literacy,

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so like working on your website,

setting up your CRM, doing your email

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automations, like all of that kind of

digital literacy of digital marketing.

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That helped me.

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I don't know if I would have

been able to start the business I

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have now without that foundation.

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I use so much of it, although it's

a completely different industry, a

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completely different business that was

a solid foundation for me, just like

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with digital marketing that allowed

me to make the switch, and being a

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virtual assistant, it was something

that had sat in my mind for a while.

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I remember when I was at the insurance

company, I had a friend- we're still

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very close friends, and we have worked

at other places before together, and

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I remember we sat next to each other.

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We had these low cubicles, and I

remember, popping over it one day

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and being like, "Let's just quit.

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Let's just leave, and we

could, like, freelance, and do

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this stuff for somebody else.

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Let's just leave."

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there was another day where I

tried to convince her to quit

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our jobs and start a mimosa cart.

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I thought that was a great idea too.

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Very early in my burnout.

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I was already starting to spiral, but

it's an idea I'd already always had, but

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I didn't know how to do it, and it kind

of like that convergence of learning

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the digital marketing, opening my first

business as the yoga studio, getting the

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confidence, and then the world shutting

down, and me having to figure it out.

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I reached into my toolbox, and I pulled

out what I had, and I just rolled with it.

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That same friend, we always

joke about, one time I said,

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I was like, "You can quit.

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You've got skills.

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We don't know what they are, but

you've got them.", and that's like,

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I kind of always think about that

in how I started this business.

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I was like, "I have skills.

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I don't know what I

have, but I've got them.

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Let's figure it out."

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Joshua: Well, this leads into maybe

one of my last questions before we

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dive into business, because it has

some curiosity rolling in my mind,

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but, you have all these skill sets.

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What was the one thing that you felt you

had to stretch yourself in doing when

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you started out, meaning, was there a

particular skill that you didn't feel

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as good about, but maybe you needed to

learn a little bit, because you mentioned

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something about having a business coach.

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I have to say, I think Gary- Gary's

the one that really helped me with

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getting started with my business

and setting some of the foundations,

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like, "Why are you doing this?

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Why are you doing that?", kind of helping

me out with some of the same, so I'm

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wondering if there's something that helped

stretch you to get to that point where

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you were like, "I'm ready to do this."

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Katie: My husband.

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We weren't married then.

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We're married now.

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We probably would have never gotten

married had I not left my career, and gone

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on this path, because I was a completely

different person, and it wasn't the

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nicest person, but I remember one night

we were talking about this new client

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that I had just started working with,

and they worked on a program Kajabi.

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I don't know if you've ever heard of it.

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It's a learning management system, and

I didn't know how to do it, and I was

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afraid to take on this new client, and

we kind of talked it through, and it's

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like, "I think I can figure it out, but

I might mess it up, and how do I even

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market myself as someone who can do

something if I don't know how to do it?",

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and he was like, "Eventually, you're

just going to have to take on assignments

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that you don't know how to do, and you're

going to have to figure it out.", and

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he was so right, and I still do that.

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I don't do client work anymore,

but in my own business, I say,

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"This is something we want to do.

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I don't know how to do it.

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Let's figure it out.", so just

constantly pushing yourself outside of

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your comfort zone, which we all talk

about that, but it's actually making

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yourself do things you don't think you

can do because you really can do them.

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Joshua: Oh.

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That's the old adage that I keep saying

to myself too is that I need to just

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do it, and just see what happens, and

it's gotten me to where I'm at now too.

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I'm sure you have many stories

just like what I can think

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of relating to that as well.

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I think, if anything, I know that

we hear a lot about corporate

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America kind of like, "Oh yeah.

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They're inventing all these new things."

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it's small business that is really

diving into those ideas, so kudos to you.

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Katie: Yeah.

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Yeah, and the flip side of that is being

really aware of where I'm pushing myself

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too hard, because that's what got me

into burnout is my own expectations of

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myself having too high of expectations,

and constantly feeling like I'm not

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able to meet them, so even now with

the business, I'll say, "I want to do

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these things and then I look at what

I can actually handle right now with

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everything else on my plate.", and

there are things that I'll say, "Look.

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Now's not the time to learn this new

skill, or do this new thing, because

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my focus needs to be elsewhere, and I

don't need to set myself up for failure."

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Joshua: Absolutely, and it's about

managing those expectations of what you

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can and cannot do, which that leads into

a perfect segue about your business.

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Let's dive into it, because you

run River City Virtual Assistants.

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First off, what's the River City?

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Is that based on some sort

of place that you lived?

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Can you tell us a little

bit about the business name?

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I find that very unique.

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Katie: Yes and no, so River City is- I'm

in Richmond, Virginia, and it's considered

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River City, but there was a couple of

plays on that word, so River City Virtual

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Assistants, so it's River City VAs, and

I'm in Virginia, so it can also be RCVA,

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and then the other one is I knew that

there's lots of cities in the United

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States that call themselves River City, so

like San Antonio, Texas, also River City,

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so I was like, "This will give us enough

ambiguity to have that virtual aspect."

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Joshua: That is so cute.

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I love that, because that does

leave a lot of interpretation and

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variety that you can dive into.

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Absolutely.

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Tell us, what do you call a virtual

assistant, because I will set this

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out, and this is from my listeners too.

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I've heard this all the time of, "Well,

if you hire me as a virtual assistant,

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this is what I can do for you."

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"If you hire me, this other person, as

a virtual assistant, this is the things

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that I can do, but I can't do.", so

tell us what you consider what a virtual

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assistant is in today's environment,

and what you do to fill that gap.

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Katie: In the very clean sense of it

is we provide executive admin support,

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marketing support, operational support

to business owners, small businesses,

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solopreneurs, and executives.

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That's very broad though, right, so

people always ask, "Well, what do you

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do?", and the answer is everything.

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The thing that we do differently

at River City Virtual Assistants

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is we recognize that one virtual

assistant cannot know everything they

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need to know to work for a client.

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If you're working with a couple of

different clients, those clients

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are going to have different needs.

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One might be on HubSpot.

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One might be on Copper.

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One might be on Squarespace.

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One might be on WordPress, so there's

all these different things that

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you're having to kind of constantly

pivot, so the way that we've worked

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around that is we've created kind

of like a communal learning system.

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Everybody who comes to work with us

goes through a three month mentorship.

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They meet with their mentor once a week.

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They talk about the different things they

need to learn, that mentor helps them,

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and then if it's outside the mentors

skill set, you've got 20 other people on

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the team so the mentor will say, "Hey.

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Let's check out who's

working on what program.

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We've got like a spreadsheet

of what everybody works on.

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I'm going to connect you with this person.

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They can train you on how to do whatever

it is that's outside of your skill set."

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Everybody says you need

to niche down, right?

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The riches are in the niches.

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You have to have this 1 thing

that you work on, and I believe

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that a good assistant needs

to be more of a generalist.

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They need to have the support system

to learn the things that they need to

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learn, and the resources to learn those

things, but they need to be able to

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go outside of just their little niche.

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We can find somebody who really

specializes in WordPress, right?

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We have people on our team who

are like, "I love WordPress.

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I love working on it.", or, "I love

working on Kajabi.", but they're

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going to need to do more than that

to be your assistant, so we train

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them on all the different things.

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Well rounded.

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Joshua: I personally use Wix

for my website, so you got

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anybody with Wix on your team?

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Katie: I have to check our tech stack.

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I've never worked on Wix, but

I'm sure someone on our team has.

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Joshua: Awesome, so that tells me though

that you're very resourceful, and that

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is something I especially think as a

virtual assistant, you have to be able to

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dive into a number of different things.

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When you look at some of

the people that say, "Yeah.

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I offer virtual assistant

responsibilities and duties."

334

:

What do you say distinguishes yourself

from some of those other companies?

335

:

Katie: What distinguishes River City

Virtual Assistants from some of the

336

:

other companies and our competitors,

something that we do very differently

337

:

is we employ everybody on our team.

338

:

We do that for multiple reasons.

339

:

One is if you contract somebody,

and we hire a lot of parents and

340

:

caretakers who are at home, so if

you're contracting someone, you're

341

:

putting the entire tax burden on them.

342

:

They're having to pay the 25 percent tax

burden of self employment, which we didn't

343

:

feel was right in working with parents.

344

:

They're working to get some extra income.

345

:

We don't need to put an additional

burden on them, so that was important

346

:

to us to help pick up some of that

burden that keeps them with us for

347

:

longer, right, so we offer employment.

348

:

We offer health benefits.

349

:

We offer PTO.

350

:

We offer training.

351

:

We offer mentorship, and then

we offer just kind of that full

352

:

container of employment, right?

353

:

We have coffee breaks together, and they

have an entire team that they can talk to.

354

:

They can call me at any time.

355

:

They can hop into the group

chat at any time, and get help.

356

:

I really think that sets us apart.

357

:

There's some that have been with

me since I was freelancing in:

358

:

They've been with me since the very

beginning, and then we don't have a lot

359

:

of turnover, and that's great for our

clients, because you don't want somebody

360

:

who's going to work with you for 6 months,

and then go on to the next job, because

361

:

once you build that relationship, there's

so much value behind the relationship

362

:

between an assistant and a client.

363

:

You don't want them to just leave, because

you lose so much value when they leave.

364

:

Joshua: Especially in a setting like

that, I have to say, it makes such a

365

:

big difference to know that you can

trust those people, especially if they

366

:

are going through similar types of life

situations, so like you were saying about

367

:

parents and caregivers are mostly a lot

of people that come to work for you.

368

:

With what you said, I think it's so

interesting that you say that you hire

369

:

them, because nowadays, I'm always

hearing about the gig economy, so being

370

:

able to be contracted, and not have

that burden, because you're right.

371

:

They didn't have to have the taxes that

they would normally pay, whether it's

372

:

employment or other things, they would

have to do that all by themselves.

373

:

Why give them that much value, Katie?

374

:

I mean, you could be like everybody else

and say, "Yeah, you just be contracted.",

375

:

and I know you explained a little bit

about, "Well, that helps with retention

376

:

and other things.", but do you feel

that you create a culture at River City

377

:

Virtual Assistants as a result of that?

378

:

Do you feel like there's a

lot more opportunity to buy

379

:

in and give ideas and input?

380

:

Do you feel like you create that

kind of culture because of that?

381

:

Katie: Yeah.

382

:

I think so.

383

:

I think that, and this is

just my personal feeling.

384

:

Everybody is welcome to do whatever

they want to do in their business and

385

:

run it however they want, but I think

that the gig economy takes advantage

386

:

of parents and caretakers, right?

387

:

Being like, "Oh.

388

:

Well, you could DoorDash, and make

extra money for your family.", but

389

:

then, they don't get the benefits

of working for a company, and I

390

:

think that that's really important.

391

:

Women will stay in jobs and relationships

for longer than they need to,

392

:

because they're afraid to go without

health insurance, and that was me.

393

:

I didn't want to leave my career,

because I didn't know what it would

394

:

be like to not have health insurance,

and I didn't know if I could afford

395

:

it on my own, and I wasn't married.

396

:

I stayed in a situation that was

toxic, and so bad for my mental

397

:

health, because I didn't want to have

something as simple as health insurance.

398

:

Originally, people were contracted

on our team, and I knew that I did

399

:

not want to be that type of business.

400

:

I knew that I wanted to employ.

401

:

I knew that I wanted to offer benefits

of employment to my team members.

402

:

For me, it's the thing to do.

403

:

It goes along with our values.

404

:

It goes along with our mission, and

I do think it helps culture, right?

405

:

Our team members know that we employ

them, that they work for us, and

406

:

they can come to us, and talk to

us about things, and learn from us.

407

:

They're not just a one off.

408

:

One of the worst things you can say

to somebody is you're replaceable,

409

:

and we don't want them to feel that

way at all because they're not.

410

:

Joshua: I feel that we often forget

about the fact that we shouldn't

411

:

think of ourselves as replaceable,

because we all bring something.

412

:

We contribute to the table,

and I think that's even part of

413

:

the interview process, right?

414

:

Your interviewing someone to see if they

are good fit for not just what you're

415

:

providing for the job description,

but for the culture as a whole.

416

:

What would you say is an ideal person

that would want to be a virtual assistant?

417

:

Is there a certain set of skills?

418

:

Now, you're bringing something unique

in which you have a well roundedness

419

:

as somebody that's founded it, and

also works with a variety of different

420

:

clients now, but what if somebody is

interested in maybe starting a gig

421

:

like this and maybe working for you?

422

:

What would you say would be somebody

that is successful in this environment?

423

:

Katie: One of the biggest

things we look for is curiosity.

424

:

Curiosity, and what do you do

with your curiosity, right?

425

:

Are you asking questions and then

figuring out the answers to it?

426

:

Are you teaching yourself things?

427

:

Are you taking classes for fun?

428

:

We like to ask people in the

application process, "Tell us

429

:

something that you taught yourself,

and how did you teach yourself to

430

:

do it?", and people are like, "Oh.

431

:

Well, I took a class on 3D printing,

and now I 3D print earrings and sell

432

:

them on Etsy, and I set up my Etsy page,

and like.", you know, all these little

433

:

things that we do just kind of for fun,

how does that translate into your work?

434

:

There is no that I'm aware

of- there's no accredited

435

:

certification for virtual assistant.

436

:

Sure.

437

:

There's plenty of programs you can take.

438

:

There's courses you can take, but

as long as you have that aptitude to

439

:

learn something new and that desire

to learn something new, I think

440

:

you're going to be pretty good at it.

441

:

I always say this isn't rocket science.

442

:

We're not doing rocket science.

443

:

We're doing administrative assistance,

which some of it can be pretty intense,

444

:

and be like pretty technical, but some of

it is just sorting somebody's emails, and

445

:

anybody can learn how to do it, really.

446

:

Joshua: Oh!

447

:

I have a full inbox, Katie, please.

448

:

I'm going to hire you to

take care of that for me.

449

:

Katie: We will talk after this, and I

will give you some tips and tricks on

450

:

how to easily source your email inbox.

451

:

I freak out when mine gets above 50,

so I have some tips and tricks for you.

452

:

Joshua: I have to ask you this.

453

:

I always enjoy asking this question,

especially those that are in the

454

:

service industry and they have

clientele, so without having to

455

:

mention their name, because I respect

the confidentiality of everybody in

456

:

terms of this sort of environment.

457

:

What would you say was the most

interesting client that you've had

458

:

in terms of helping them with your

services, meaning, was there something

459

:

unique about it that you were trying

to navigate with them with a variety

460

:

of different things that you offer?

461

:

Maybe there was some sort of company that

was, maybe out of the blue that you never

462

:

heard of before, that was like, "Oh!

463

:

That's really interesting.", or maybe

it could be just as generic as, "Yeah.

464

:

I helped my best friend."

465

:

Either way, what would you say is the

most memorable client you've worked

466

:

with?

467

:

Katie: I have a lot of them.

468

:

Joshua: That's always the best thing

to have a lot of trying to choose one.

469

:

Katie: Yeah, so one of my very, very

first clients, and he's still with us.

470

:

I no longer work with him because

I don't do client work anymore,

471

:

but one of our first clients.

472

:

He owns a business, and they had a

growth plan, and because of COVID,

473

:

their growth plan just blew up.

474

:

They hit their growth plan within the

first three months of COVID, and then

475

:

it kept on going, because the world was

kind of crazy then, and he's my age,

476

:

but I always felt like he was like much

more older and wiser than me, and he

477

:

just took the time every week to meet

with me, and ask me, "What do you need?

478

:

How can I help you succeed in this

role?", and I learned so much from him.

479

:

He was the CFO, so I learned a

lot of like businessy things from

480

:

him, and we're still in touch.

481

:

Like I said, he's still

one of our clients.

482

:

I love it when I work with people who

have done it before me, and they're

483

:

interested in what my business is doing,

and they're interested in helping and

484

:

giving their advice and their mentorship.

485

:

It's very much like a

two way street, right?

486

:

I can figure out how to find a contractor

to change your electricity in your house

487

:

right now, but you can also teach me how

to do something, so you learn from all of

488

:

your clients in some way, and sometimes

just through the problem solving process

489

:

of helping them solve problems, you learn.

490

:

I have so many clients that

I just think so fondly of.

491

:

It was really hard for me when I

decided to stop doing client work.

492

:

It was really, really hard for me to step

away from it because I just like the work.

493

:

Joshua: Yeah, and I know of people

that have to step away, because they

494

:

have the bigger vision that they're

working on with it, and they have

495

:

to support some of the people that

they're going to trust to be able to

496

:

do the work and carry that forward.

497

:

Doesn't mean that you don't touch base

with them or anything by all means,

498

:

but you always have that relationship,

which I love that you foster.

499

:

That's something that I even

work with my clients on.

500

:

It's about having that relationship

with someone, especially in a coaching

501

:

relationship, that is really important

if you're ever going to make progress,

502

:

but it is very, very important with what

you said t hat we're able to foster that

503

:

Katie, we're almost at the end of our

time, and I really have this one last

504

:

question for you because we led this

conversation really starting from the

505

:

fact that you experienced burnout.

506

:

Do you feel a sense of burnout doing

this sort of job now, and if so, why,

507

:

or if not, why, and when you explain

that answer, let us know why that is

508

:

the case, meaning what propels you

to not feel burned out, or if you

509

:

do feel burned out and you've got to

switch careers, please just tell us

510

:

right now what that's going to be?

511

:

Katie: Not going to switch careers.

512

:

I love what I do, so I think that,

at least for me and my experience,

513

:

after experiencing burnout and

healing from burnout, I feel like

514

:

those pathways are open in my brain.

515

:

The overachieving feeling

is always going to be there.

516

:

I'm always going to struggle with

not feeling like I'm doing enough.

517

:

Could I burn out in this role?

518

:

100% yes.

519

:

Do I have moments where

I feel like I'm tipping?

520

:

Yes.

521

:

Today was a moment.

522

:

I had a moment today where one of the

things that starts to show me that I'm

523

:

getting overstressed that I need to step

back is when I lose my ability to be kind,

524

:

and it's like the first thing that goes

when I get tired, and I know that about

525

:

myself, so I have a business partner.

526

:

I called my business partner.

527

:

I said, "I'm at the end of my bandwidth.

528

:

I need you to help me with

this.", and she's like, "Cool.

529

:

I'm on it.

530

:

I'll take care of it.", so just

being able to recognize that

531

:

I can burn out at any moment.

532

:

You can burn out doing things you love.

533

:

People do it all the time, but being able

to recognize when you're starting to go

534

:

down that slope and asking for the help

that you need, so with business owners,

535

:

and we work with so many business owners

who are in a similar position, you can

536

:

burn yourself out doing what you love.

537

:

Our goal is to make sure you

don't .You can ask for help.

538

:

There's someone here to help take the

burden, to take some of the mental

539

:

load off of you, whether that be with

your business, or maybe you need your

540

:

virtual assistant to help you with

some things going on in your personal

541

:

life, like running a household, and

raising children, and being a spouse,

542

:

all those things are really hard.

543

:

Could I burn out?

544

:

Yes.

545

:

Am I going to?

546

:

I don't think so.

547

:

I think I've put good boundaries in place.

548

:

Joshua: Boundaries.

549

:

That is something is so important,

because I also, and we were talking

550

:

about this before the show, about how

that has been a big deal for even me,

551

:

and we kind of associate with that.

552

:

I think it's so true, and I also find

myself getting a little angry sometimes

553

:

too, and I have to push it away, and

walk away, and come back, and that's

554

:

always a great way and technique,

even if you don't have somebody

555

:

else, just to step away from it too.

556

:

I think all those are great ideas in

itself, and you have yoga to always lean

557

:

back on, so that's always a good thing.

558

:

Katie: Yeah.

559

:

One of our values is

being self reflective.

560

:

It's very important for us, and our

team members, to understand when we're

561

:

getting angry about something, or when we

are getting frustrated about something.

562

:

Why are we getting frustrated, and

how can we ask for help, and kind

563

:

of step back from it, so yeah.

564

:

Very important.

565

:

Joshua: Big step backwards.

566

:

Yes, in order to be able to

take a big leap forwards.

567

:

That's always the key.

568

:

Katie, thanks so much for this.

569

:

I really enjoyed our conversation.

570

:

I want to give you the

last few minutes here.

571

:

I'm sure people are interested,

especially some of my business owners.

572

:

Maybe they are excited to

work with you and your team at

573

:

River City Virtual Assistants.

574

:

Maybe you can share a little bit

of information on how they can get

575

:

in contact with that, how they can

get in contact with you, if they're

576

:

interested in talking more about what

you've shared today, even if they have

577

:

interest in the services, maybe you

can run through some of them, which we

578

:

haven't really overall talked about.

579

:

I know you have a variety of different

things, but I'm going to give you the

580

:

last few minutes to do all of that.

581

:

Katie: Yeah, sure.

582

:

We have a website, rivercity-va.com.

583

:

If you go there, we have a services list.

584

:

You can find out about

our upcoming webinars.

585

:

Every month we do a different webinar,

and we do them on things such as

586

:

learning to delegate, learning to set

boundaries, how to use AI and your

587

:

marketing, things like that, so things

that we're doing, and we do a little

588

:

webinar on that every month and it's free.

589

:

We also have a newsletter that

you can sign up for, which is

590

:

some of that same information.

591

:

We call it The Virtual Assist, so

we're here to lend a little hand.

592

:

It's a navigating the waters

of entrepreneurship and life.

593

:

You can follow me on LinkedIn at Katie

Santoro, and we also have a River City

594

:

Virtual Assistants business page, where

you can find a lot of information.

595

:

We take our blogs and we break them down

into smaller information for our business

596

:

page, and then you can just email me.

597

:

Katie at, and it's K A T

I E, @rivercity-va.com.

598

:

Like I said earlier,

I am a problem solver.

599

:

I love to talk through business problems,

how to solve them, different programs

600

:

that can be used, things like that,

so I'm always willing to have a call

601

:

about how you might solve your problem,

whether or not we are a fit for you or

602

:

not, which we probably are, because we

have lots of diverse skills, but whether

603

:

or not we're a fit for you, I'm happy

to chat through things at any time.

604

:

Joshua: Love all of that.

605

:

I find that what makes the backbone,

and which is why there's a day even

606

:

named after these sort of people:

Administrative Professionals Day.

607

:

I always love it because if it

wasn't for people like you, and I

608

:

know you do so much more than that.

609

:

Don't get me wrong, but I think that

that is so important for us to run with

610

:

the races of life, business, whatever

that is that we're trying to achieve.

611

:

I love the fact though, too, that you

took all these career aspirations, and

612

:

you dive them into this business that

is a fully functional service where

613

:

you can go and get whatever you need.

614

:

I love that, and if you don't

have that service, you train.

615

:

You care about your employees.

616

:

I love that.

617

:

Those are all great things that I

think we sometimes overlook, and yet,

618

:

in today's day and age, that's what

causes a lot of the burnout too, is

619

:

being overlooked, and I appreciate you

flipping the script and doing that at

620

:

River City Virtual Assistants, but for

all those reasons, Katie, thanks a lot for

621

:

being on Speaking from the Heart today.

622

:

I really enjoyed our conversation.

623

:

It was a privilege to talk to you.

624

:

Katie: Same.

625

:

Thank you so much for having me.

626

:

Joshua: I want to thank Katie so much

for allowing me to share her story to

627

:

the world, and I want to thank her so

much for being on the show for allowing

628

:

me to understand a little bit more

of how freelancing works, but more

629

:

importantly, how it connects to the

broader conversation that we need to

630

:

have about focusing on our purpose.

631

:

I think it's really important to even

understand that when we have all these

632

:

things that are going on in our businesses

and our lives, we need that help.

633

:

I'm a strong advocate, even myself, on

finding that niche that we really want to

634

:

learn and grow in, giving everybody else

the things that we don't want to do, and

635

:

allowing ourselves to develop our craft.

636

:

Katie did exactly that, in

a different kind of way.

637

:

Her story really exemplifies how many

people, even post-COVID, have been

638

:

trying to challenge the status quo,

find their purpose in this world, and

639

:

find it in a way that can help others

be able to escape what has been the

640

:

traditional 9 to 5 job, usually taking

place before pre-pandemic times.

641

:

We have seen a lot of development in

these areas of virtual assistance,

642

:

and being able to learn a little bit

more today gives us a perspective

643

:

of how you can create this model for

yourself by helping others whether

644

:

you're far away or even close by.

645

:

Seeing that this is a play on even some of

the more traditional roles of babysitting

646

:

even as a kid, or even doing some of the

things that are menial in nature, Katie

647

:

takes this to the professional level,

helping those to get their time back, and

648

:

I love that so much because what we're

leaving behind when we're not working on

649

:

our business, when we're not working on

ourselves, is that craft, that energy,

650

:

that purpose that we were designed

to do, so it allows us to make the

651

:

actions that we need to take come alive.

652

:

Don't consider this as a

freelancing opportunity.

653

:

I think Katie really set the platform

as to why virtual assistants are

654

:

so different from a freelancer.

655

:

It allows us to develop areas, creating

that value for our business or each other,

656

:

so it allows us to also have opportunities

to do the things that we need to do,

657

:

as I've already mentioned, but the

unintended skills that we can learn from

658

:

these types of jobs might be because of

the people that want to invest in them.

659

:

They want to see that growth become

exponential, and I love the fact that even

660

:

for her story herself, Katie admits, in

many different parts, that she didn't have

661

:

all the knowledge, she didn't have all the

abilities, but her ability to keep moving

662

:

past that to create that vision of what

she ultimately wanted to see, allowed her

663

:

to escape from being burned out again.

664

:

It allowed her to have that flexibility,

and create the opportunity for so many

665

:

other people, to allow them to surround

her, to be able to help others be

666

:

surrounded with the services that they

need to have, but I think that you have to

667

:

learn from her story, is that what kinds

of people are you willing to work with?

668

:

How many others would you be willing to

invest in, even if it was your significant

669

:

other, to create that awareness of

expectations that you want to achieve?

670

:

Let's face it.

671

:

I'm sure that we've had people in

our lives that have come and gone,

672

:

thinking that they were really going

to help us get to where we need to

673

:

be, but the problem with that is that

we often find that we have rifts.

674

:

We have differences of the approach

that we need to take, and I've talked

675

:

about on numerous occasions on this

podcast about how we can manage

676

:

conflict, how we can defuse it, how

we can use what we have going on

677

:

in our lives to a better advantage.

678

:

It doesn't mean that we should stop with

the conversation, and give up, throw

679

:

up our hands and say that we shouldn't

be doing what we're doing right now.

680

:

That is not the case here.

681

:

What kinds of things can we get

ourselves involved in should be really

682

:

the conversation that we have instead.

683

:

What can we do to make sure that we can

work through this problem so that we can

684

:

get to the solution that we have at hand?

685

:

It's being aware of what you're expecting,

and having that conversation of what

686

:

you're expecting in return, and I

think that personalized approach here

687

:

at River City Virtual Assistants that

Katie's business is all about creates

688

:

that context for so many of our clients

and is why it is rapidly growing.

689

:

It is why people like this want to have

that connection, that relationship that

690

:

we've always got back to, especially

in the early parts of this podcast;

691

:

right here is a prime example of how

that success can come alive, but that

692

:

connection, those skill sets are so

important for us, not just from a

693

:

generalist perspective, whether that's

doing basic accounting work, whether

694

:

that's doing administrative work, whether

that is putting up a social media post,

695

:

even redoing some research, helping that

client get to where that ultimate goal is.

696

:

Being employed is the number one

thing that we all want to do, but we

697

:

got to do it with our own flexible

scheduling, because in this day and

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:

age, with so many different types of

opportunities that lie ahead ,and the

699

:

income that we can all make, there's no

excuse to say that we are flat broke.

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:

It just means that we have to

put a little bit more effort

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:

in, in some areas over others.

702

:

It doesn't mean that overnight,

magically something will occur,

703

:

just like those fantasy world social

media posts that oftentimes you see.

704

:

Those people dug deep, got back in their

trenches, dug into themselves, trying to

705

:

figure out what is the niche that they

needed to bring to the table, and is

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:

exactly why Katie's story, amongst many

others, are featured on this podcast.

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:

It shows a glimmer of hope, a way

in which we're able to create that

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:

context, that connection with benefits,

that allows our environment to thrive.

709

:

That's why people are jealous.

710

:

That's why even like you, my listener,

might be a little jealous of what

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:

she's been able to accomplish, but you

heard what she had to go through to

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:

get to that point, and that's exactly

why I relate to her story so much.

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:

I was burned out after I tried

to kill myself four and a half

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:

years ago, and it still stuck with

me for a long period afterwards.

715

:

Some of my closest friends, even in posts

six months after I tried to hurt myself,

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:

saw again that I wanted to do it all over,

because that level of support, during that

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:

COVID period, was extremely tough for me.

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:

I felt alone.

719

:

I've had other guests that we've even

talked about why that has occurred.

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:

It's a mental energy.

721

:

It's a process in which you have

to change your brain patterns,

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:

and create that aspect of your

life that you want to envision.

723

:

It's not just putting it on paper, but

it's empowering yourself to see the

724

:

same, but yet, even as my one former

guest, Mike Van Pelt, even put it.

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:

It's about being curious of what you

want to work on that will ultimately

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:

dictate how you want to best achieve it.

727

:

It's no coincidence of having

Katie to follow right after that.

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:

She shares her perspective

of that curiosity.

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:

How we can learn from others

through that curiosity.

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:

How we can build our own

businesses through that curiosity.

731

:

How we were able to have that "ah ha"

moment come alive in those curiosity

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:

moments, but if we can recognize the

kindness of helping others, being able

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:

to create that consistency for others

to achieve what they ultimately want

734

:

to achieve, you'll see that these kinds

of results can happen for you as well.

735

:

Let's be real.

736

:

It isn't easy for some of us to

easily drop into the bucket of

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:

starting a business like this.

738

:

It takes a lot of hard work.

739

:

It means that you have to have some tough

conversations with the people that are

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:

around you saying to them that it's okay.

741

:

I know what I'm doing.

742

:

Give me the faith, and if you have

broken those relationships with

743

:

people, they're going to be even more

skeptical of you trying to achieve

744

:

what you're trying to achieve today.

745

:

It doesn't mean, though, that you give up.

746

:

It doesn't mean that you don't stop.

747

:

It doesn't mean that you pivot

into a different kind of direction.

748

:

It means that you have to find, as

I've even said to one of my clients

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:

recently, what your sphere of influence

is, and who your inner circle is,

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:

that allows you to create those

opportunities that you're seeking out.

751

:

It could be anything like reading

books, listening to podcasts.

752

:

It could be all kinds of healthy

activities like dieting, exercise.

753

:

Anything that helps to fuel you,

that influences you, is that sphere

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:

of influence, but that inner circle

are the people that are going to make

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:

sure that hold you accountable to what

you're ultimately trying to achieve.

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:

Even if it is from a sales perspective,

even if it is from your own personal,

757

:

professional development, this story that

we're hearing today is the prime example

758

:

of somebody that changed their sphere

of influence, got themselves into the

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:

inner circle of people that are willing

to help get her to where she needs

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:

to be, and be able to be successful.

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:

I don't know about you, but it means that

sometimes we have to break that bubble,

762

:

pop that balloon, if you will, of the

things that we thought were really our

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:

manifest destiny, the true vision of

what we ultimately wanted to accomplish.

764

:

It's a lot of work.

765

:

It's a lot of development.

766

:

It means that we have to go in areas

that oftentimes we're afraid to go

767

:

into, especially in the world of virtual

assistants, but I think that Katie

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:

shows her legitimacy, along with her

clientele and the people that she hires,

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:

of why it's so important to not think

of this as a casual freelancer, but

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:

somebody that you should take seriously.

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:

I can take you seriously too if you're

willing to work on those skills, being

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:

able to build up what you ultimately

have as values right now, if you're

773

:

willing to have the right mindset

to open the potential possibilities

774

:

in investing yourself, whether it's

monetarily, or in the knowledge sense.

775

:

If you can manage those expectations,

if you can play on the words that are

776

:

allowing you to create that vision of what

you're manifesting, and if you're able

777

:

to work on all kinds of things that allow

you to be gainfully employed, and manage

778

:

the expectations that you have in front

of you right now, you will create those

779

:

successes just like Katie did as well.

780

:

That connection of what we learn from

others, what we're truly capable of

781

:

becoming, and what we're ultimately

able to achieve, allows us to see things

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:

that we, ultimately, sometimes can't

see right in front of us, but even if

783

:

we recognize it down the road, if we're

able to see what we're able to do right

784

:

now, I think that that is what is more

important than anything else, and for

785

:

all those reasons, that allows you to

create the best version of yourself.

786

:

That allows you to see what

you're able to ultimately become.

787

:

It allows you to see what nobody

else might see today, but will

788

:

ultimately see in the future.

789

:

Don't wait any longer.

790

:

Be like Katie.

791

:

If you want to get control of your

life, if you want to ultimately

792

:

achieve the best version of yourself,

this is where the hard work begins.

793

:

Today.

794

:

Thanks for listening to episode

number 154 of Speaking From the

795

:

Heart, and I look forward to

hearing from your heart, very soon.

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:

Outro: Thanks for listening.

797

:

For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

798

:

The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

799

:

Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

for more information about potential

800

:

services that can help you create

the best version of yourself.

801

:

See you next time.

About the Podcast

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Speaking From The Heart
Your Speaking Voice LLC's Business Podcast

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About your host

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Joshua Smith

Joshua D. Smith is the Owner and Founder of Your Speaking Voice, a life coaching, business coaching, and public speaking company based in Carlisle, PA. Serving clients across the world, Joshua got his start in personal/professional development and public speaking in April of 2012 through his extensive involvement in an educational non-profit organization called Toastmasters International.

Toastmasters International operates clubs both domestically and internationally that focus on teaching leadership, development, and public speaking skills. Joshua quickly excelled in Toastmasters International and found that he had a passion for leadership and helping others find their confidence and their true "speaking voice". Joshua has held all club officer roles and most District level positions in Toastmasters International and belongs to numerous clubs throughout the organization. Joshua has also been recognized as two-time Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest award the organization bestows for achievement in leadership and communication.

Outside of his community involvement, education is something that Joshua has always taken great pride in. His academic achievements include a number of degrees from Alvernia and Shippensburg University. He earned a Bachelor's degree in political science and communications from Alvernia in 2009, a masters of business administration from Alvernia in 2010, and later a masters in public administration from Shippensburg in 2014.

In the professional world, Joshua has held multiple positions with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for over 14 years which includes a variety of data analytics, procurement, budgeting, business process improvement (IT and non-IT), legal compliance, and working with the blind. He has applied his public speaking and development skills in the professional world to tackle numerous public speaking engagements and presentations from all levels of the organization, including executive management.

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