Meet Jessica Beagan

[00:00:04] Jessica: I think just giving the VA trust is huge, too. I know it feels so scary, but when they don’t feel micromanaged and you trust them, I feel like… there’s more purpose for them and they feel like more a part of your business and the bigger picture. It’s tough. It’s just finding the right person, really trying to have trust, but start small.

[00:00:29] Linzy: Welcome to the Money Skills for Therapists podcast, where we answer this question. How can therapists and health practitioners go from money shame and confusion to feeling calm and confident about their finances and get money really working for them in both their private practice and their lives? I’m your host, Lindsay Bonham, therapist turned money coach and creator of the course Money Skills for Therapists.

[00:00:51] Linzy: Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Today’s guest is Jess Beacon. Jess is a recreational therapist turned virtual assistant who specifically supports therapists in our businesses. And I was really excited to get to talk to Jess today because I talked so much with my students in Money Skills for Therapists and Money Skills for Group Practice Owners about getting some help, right? Like not doing it all ourselves. and a VA is usually. The fastest, easiest way to get that help, right? VAs have businesses set up that already are offering support, VAs being virtual assistants. And Jess and I today really got into the foundation of like, what is a virtual assistant? What do they do for you?

[00:01:33] How do you interview somebody to find the right person? What is the amount of time that somebody could work for you for? How do you let go of control might be something that you’re thinking about. If you’re considering delegates, like how do you start to delegate? How do you set expectations for how long it should take for somebody to be able to do a task up to your satisfaction, Jess? shared some great insights today from the virtual assistant side of the equation of how to have a successful relationship with a virtual assistant and get that help that you need in your private practice or your group practice. Here is my conversation with Jess Beacon.

[00:02:17] So Jess, welcome to the podcast.

[00:02:19] Jessica: Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

[00:02:21] Linzy: Yeah, I’m excited to have you here too. We were just chatting off mic beforehand about how we both live in the same small to medium sized city in Ontario, Canada by pure coincidence.

[00:02:33] Jessica: Small world.

[00:02:34] Linzy: Well, yeah, it is a small world. I don’t think we’ve ever run into each other, but maybe we have. But it’s lovely to have you on the podcast like sometimes,being in the online space, our sense of local is really generous. Like if somebody’s in like Hamilton, which is like 45 minutes away. I’m like, we basically are next door neighbors, but with you, we really like,we really are10 minutes apart.

[00:02:53] So wonderful to have you here,to talk today about VAs. So VAs virtual assistants, this is your world. This is your zone of genius that you occupy and this is something that I talk about a lot with my students,whether they’re folks in solo practice, on their own or even with my group practice owners that I work with in my course who might have five employees, sometimes even like 10 employees,there can be a lot of confusion or lack of clarity about virtual assistants, what they can do for you, what they won’t do for you. And so I’d love to dig into today to help folks get more clarity about, you know, this kind of support. So let’s just start with the very basic, like what does a virtual assistant do?

[00:03:34] Jessica: Mm-hmm. no, that is a great question. I often think of VA as like an umbrella term ’cause there’s just so many things that we do and it varies so much between VA, like what services they offer. I would say in general, they usually provide support with admin, creative, technical, and social media. Those kinds of areas and then some VAs also specialize a little bit further, so they might provide more specialized skills in certain areas. This isn’t an inclusive list, but this kind of just might give you an idea of what they could maybe take off your plate.

[00:04:08] So in terms of admin, some tasks could be client communication,email management, updating Excel sheets, light research, keeping track of data or metrics, scheduling blogs. could be billing and invoicing, scheduling client sessions, calendar management, creating SOPs or like standard operating and then creative tasks could be, you know, creating resources for your business. So maybe that’s course creation workbooks, freebies,maybe video editing, and then in terms of social media, that could look like engagement, creating graphics or reels, scheduling posts, creating a monthly content calendar.

[00:04:47] And then, like I said, some VAs will specialize a little bit further in certain areas, so they might offer things like email marketing or podcast management, Pinterest management, web design. Some VAs even consider themselves like a tech VA, so they might do, you know, email automation systems, setting up a CRM or project management tool,creating lead pages and web support. So, I could go on and on.

[00:05:10] Linzy: It’s a big list.

[00:05:11] Jessica: There’s so many, I feel like that doesn’t even probably scratch the surface.

[00:05:13] Linzy: Sure.

[00:05:14] Jessica: Hopefully that just gives you an idea of some of the tasks that a VA could take off your plate and like I said, every VA will be very different in what they offer.

[00:05:22] Linzy: Right.

[00:05:23] Yeah, so folks will have their specific niche that they might be particularly excited or skilled in but you know, what I’m hearing in that list of tasks is,almost everything that’s not actually client facing.

[00:05:34] Jessica: Yeah, we’re very behind the scenes. Sometimes client facing, if we’re, some people have VAs that are dealing a little bit more closely with their clients, which is, I don’t personally do that, but that’s a side of it but generally, yeah, like we’re like the behind the scenes kind of specialist, I guess.

[00:05:50] Linzy: Yeah, and running the business side of things. ’cause something that I find with many of the folks that I work with is. The business side of things, usually is not why they started a private practice, right? Like people don’t start private practices ’cause they really want to have their own business. You know, we start our private practices ’cause we want to work for ourselves and have freedom and be able to maybe work for the population that, you know, there’s no other way to work with them. We want to be able to step out and work on our own terms, but I often think about it that it’s kind of like therapists accidentally go into business.

[00:06:20] Jessica: Right.

[00:06:21] Linzy: You’re like, oh, there’s all these things to do. Like that massive list that you just gave us. Which, you said, is scratching the surface. Those are all fairly standard things in the running of a typical business. Maybe some of the things at the end were a little bit more online business-oriented, like lead pages or automations, but,many of those things on that list are just things that we all have to do, to have an actual business that is a machine that is doing something to support us

[00:06:46] Jessica: Yeah, and it creeps up fast. You’re just like, oh, I have to wait. I have to post on social media. I have to do this. It’s so easy to get burnt out and just exhausted from it all. Yeah, it’s a lot.

[00:06:57] Linzy: So you know, for folks who are listening right now who might have just heard some things on that list that they’re like. I can get help with that thing.

[00:07:04] Jessica: Yeah.

[00:07:06] Linzy: When somebody is considering, like looking around for a VA right. What kind of questions should they be asking to find somebody who will be the right fit for them?

[00:07:15] Jessica: Yeah, no, that’s a great question. So it’s going to depend yeah, what you’re needing from the VA first, I would say if you are a therapist that’s looking for a VA that is going to be working with your clients, so like they’re maybe dealing with personal health information and they’re

[00:07:30] scheduling,appointments or doing calls and stuff like that. I feel like there’s sort of a subset of questions you might want to ask,just to cover those bases. So for one, I would see if they’re familiar with privacy laws in your jurisdiction. I know you have a lot of, I think Canadian and American listeners, so like, see if they’re familiar with HIPAA or P HIPPA.

[00:07:48] We’re in Ontario. That would be a really good first step if that’s the kind of VA you’re looking for. I would also ask the question like what steps do they take to keep sensitive information secure, just like on their end. And then it might also be a good idea to ask if they have cyber insurance just as like a little extra protection.

[00:08:05] So that’s specifically for if your VA’s dealing with personal health information. I do not do that as a VA, but I know like there’s probably therapists that are looking for that, so I just wanted to throw that out there. Other questions you could ask? So that would be like, obviously you might want to ask what their experience is in mental health,and just to get an idea, like, do they understand your ideal client?

[00:08:24] This might depend, you know, what tasks they’re doing, if they’re doing more social media, this might be more important or obviously if they’re communicating with your client, but I think it’s just really good that they know the language and they just understand that space. So it’s just good to ask that question. Another one would be pretty basically like, what services do you offer? ‘Cause like I said, like that list is so long and VAs differ so much in what they offer. So just make sure that they do offer something that is what you need that is going to take something off your plate. Another question would be like.

[00:08:55] A lot of VAs have, they go by hour or they do packages. So just ask them like, do you charge hourly? Do you do a package? I think some VAs like if you do a certain amount of hours, it might be cheaper like in a package. So that’s a good one to ask and then also are there like minimum requirements, so some VAs because the onboarding takes like a little bit of time. They might say we have to commit for a month or like a couple weeks or something. So just good to know that for yourself, just see if they have a minimum requirement. And also, what notice do they require to cancel?

[00:09:26] So you don’t want to be stuck, like, you know, you just want to have an idea, like if you ever have to cancel for whatever reason, the contract, just good to know how many days they require. What are your preferred communication methods? So I think that’s just good to know, like how do you guys communicate?

[00:09:40] Does your VA like to email or use Slack or video call or a combination? and then what are their turnaround times too because,you know, some VAs are very quick to respond to stuff that a therapist needs help with. Like they’re, maybe they wake up one day and they’re like, oh my gosh, I need help troubleshooting this, or I need…not all VAs can do that. A lot of us have multiple clients that we’re working with, so we might have like a 48 hour turnaround for things like new projects or something that’s not already on our task list. So just good to have that in mind because I’ve definitely come across potential clients where I’m like, I don’t know if we’re a good fit ’cause I do have a little bit of a turnover time and I can’t be available constantly. So it’s just good to ask that. You could also ask about their experiences with different platforms and systems, like if you need help with Jane or something that’s really important that they’re going to be using to see if they have experience.

[00:10:27] If not, like, are you willing to kind of maybe provide a little bit of education on that? And then I threw this one in. This was one that my client asked me on a discovery call, but I thought it was really good is how do you receive feedback?I just thought that was really smart to ask that and I was like, oh, what a good question and I just felt like that gave a good idea of how I work and just like. I got a chance to share how I do receive feedback, also being highly sensitive. I was like, I really appreciate you asking that ’cause we can be more sensitive to criticism and stuff and it was just a very nice question to ask.

[00:11:01] So, and then lastly, this isn’t really a question, but I would say like, is their personality a good fit? Because I just think that’s just so important when you’re inviting someone into your business. Like do your values align? Do you get each other? Do you work well together? Luckily, like with my clients, we just, yeah, we really understand each other and I feel like it makes the process just so much better. Like, we really get each other. So, yeah, just I would, I mean, you guys know how to feel people out. I would just say like on the discovery call, see if it’s a good match. A good fit.

[00:11:30] Linzy: Yeah. Looking around a little bit, too, is something that I’m thinking of as you’re mentioning these questions, I think we’re used to the idea of looking around for certain things. like dating, it’s like you don’t marry the first person you go on a date with, maybe they’re not a fit.

[00:11:43] But sometimes when it is, I think especially for therapists and health practitioners, folks in business when maybe we’ve been putting something off for a long time. There can be a lot of charge around it like, oh, okay, I finally need to do this thing. You still need to remember that the first person to interview might not be the right person. It might not be the right fit, as you say. Right. And so, you know, interview two or three people to see who feels like the right vibe ’cause something that I’m thinking about too, as you’re mentioning these questions, is partially there are questions you would ask anybody if you’re doing a job interview, right? Like if you’re hiring somebody as an employee, you would want to ask these questions too. But also they have their own business,

[00:12:16] Jessica: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:12:17] Linzy: Somebody else’s business into your team. So I’m also thinking too about like, they’re not fitting into your workplace culture, you know, if they already are established, like you are, they have multiple clients, they have their way of doing things. So making sure that your businesses are compatible.

[00:12:31] Jessica: For sure. Yeah, and I would say like a lot of VAs offer free discovery calls, that’s usually the first part in the process. It’s like half an hour. So yeah, do like a few of those if you can just, it’s just so worth it to take the time to find someone. I feel like that’s just a good fit.

[00:12:45] Linzy: One of the biggest hesitations that I hear from therapists when it comes to a VA is there’s a couple things. All the work it’s going to take to train them, Right. Like there’s this hesitation and the thought that then comes up for I think a lot of therapists is like, it’s easier if I just do it myself. Like it’s going to take so long to teach them. It’s easier if I do it myself. Maybe they won’t do it as well as I do it or won’t do it the way that I like to do

[00:13:07] Jessica: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:09] Linzy: What do you suggest in terms of the onboarding process for a VA? Like How do therapists set their expectations appropriately for onboarding? What does onboarding look like? Like how much time does it usually take to kind of train somebody or come to an agreement about how things should be done?

[00:13:24] Jessica: For sure. Yeah, I would say like, so it depends like if you have a, maybe a newer VA that you’re onboarding, you may be more involved in that process. Maybe they need more education on certain systems or things you’re doing in your business. A more experienced VA, they might have a slightly better onboarding process or know, have more knowledge of certain systems that you work with but I would say, yeah, like in general, nobody knows your business or you, so whoever you onboard, it’s going to take some time, to just get to know each other and how you work and the workflows. So I would just say like, yeah, take it slow. So it’s usually a discovery call and then there’s like a kickoff call, which is like your first call when you’re like, okay, we’re working together.

[00:14:02] Linzy: Yeah.

[00:14:03] Jessica: So I would just take time on that call to really get into like nitty gritty stuff of like, how do you want to do this? Do you want to, like, what project management software or platform are we going to use and how are we going to delegate tasks? Ask like, is the VA going to send you a report every week of like, what they did? Or do you not need that? Or just like, kind of create that open communication of how do we want to work together? And so kickoff calls are a really good place to do that. Yeah.

[00:14:27] Linzy: Absolutely. And you know, something that I am also curious about from your perspective as a VA is sometimes I’ve seen therapists hire somebody like say to do their social media and they’re not happy with the work that’s being done, but it’s also like just started,

[00:14:40] Jessica: Right.

[00:14:41] Linzy: Right? So like in your experience, what is a normal kind of onboarding period where it’s like, yeah, we’re still getting to know each other, you’re going to still be getting to know their brand’s voice, you know? So obviously it’s going to take you a while to be like, oh, okay, this is the color scheme you want oh, I understand now there’s going to have to, of course, be a normal amount of working things through and getting to know each other, but also sometimes it’s just ultimately not going to be a fit.

[00:15:02] Jessica: Yeah,

[00:15:02] Linzy: In your experience, how long does it take to figure out if you’re actually a right fit?

[00:15:08] Jessica: Mm-hmm, I would say it depends too, like what you’re doing. ’cause like social media would be, that takes so much longer to kind of see results and get into the hang of things and stuff. Whereas like VA work, I would say you could probably know a little bit sooner if things weren’t working. It’s tough to give a hard answer for that.

[00:15:27] But I would say like social media maybe, I don’t know I’d say sometimes it could take at least like four to six months to really see like something happening depends like how much you’re posting too and like if they’re actually like a social media manager that’s doing strategy and stuff, like it should be probably around that. Whereas, if there’s no strategy, it is kind of hard to see results sometimes. So I dunno if that’s a great answer to the question, but.

[00:15:51] Linzy: It’s a great answer because that got me thinking about something. I’m thinking about a specific student in mind for this example. And the question of results is a great one, right? Because like when we’re in business, we’re trying to accomplish something, right? It’s not just like whether or not we personally like something, it’s like, is it doing the thing that it sets out to do? And that’s a great reminder, right? Is that when we have a VA working with us, there can be metrics that we’re tracking together, right? Our goal is to gain 50 followers a month, right? Is that happening? Is what we’re doing working. Can your VA tweak and come at it a different way and you start to see that there’s results? That is a great reminder that is what a VA is there to help us do not necessarily do something exactly the way that we would’ve done it.

[00:16:35] Jessica: Exactly, yeah, and also just thinking sometimes your idea of like success maybe changes over time, like if you’re not, getting followers is great, but sometimes it’s just like being seen online and like growing brand awareness. There might be things happening behind the scenes, if we’re talking about social media in particular, that are actually doing well for your business but it’s a little bit hard to see like those the hard numbers or whatever. So I would think of like all the different ways it might be helping besides just like, you know, followers or something, but it is still important to track those, like if you have certain goals, I feel like a good social media manager will be tracking like the numbers and you guys will have a goal set out at the beginning and there should be some kind of like return on investment, obviously, like at least give it some time but,after a while it’s like, okay, yes, you should be seeing something aligning with the goals that you guys set out.,

[00:17:23] Linzy: Yeah,Because I’m thinking, you know, there’s two things that adding to your team in general brings, and specifically that a VA would bring and so there’s kind of those quantitative results, where we see something in the business is getting better, right? Like more clients are converting because they’re getting responses faster than you could give as a therapist, right? Like if your VA is more available, maybe more people are converting to a first session. Or if you’re doing like,social media, you’re getting whatever metric you decide, you know, the followers is a vanity metric, but maybe you’re getting more people actually like click through to your page or you’re starting to hear from people who call, oh yeah, I found you on Instagram or like, my friend told me about your Instagram page. So there’s that quantitative piece of actually improving your business’s performance, which from a financial perspective then turns into more money that you can allow to live your life and you know, all those good things But I’m also thinking, what I see generally happens first is that qualitative change where it’s like oh, somebody else is helping,

[00:18:16] Jessica: Yeah,

[00:18:17] Linzy: Right? Like, I’m not alone in that and that I find folks tend to have that happen quickly or often it doesn’t happen. I’m thinking these are, anecdotal, but I’ve seen folks where they hire a new administrator, whether they’re a virtual administrator or in person and it’s a fit, and they’re like, oh my god, I feel like 30 pounds lighter.Just having somebody else who’s like holding the bandwidth with you and who’s like, oh, I got that. Or like, oh, here’s a better way to do that. Like the relief that brings, especially when therapists have been kind of treading water frantically for so long and that in itself has a lot of value that might be harder to quantify.

[00:18:54] Jessica: Yeah.

[00:18:55] That’s a good way to, to say Yeah, because it was like, you obviously want that quantitative data. But then it’s like, there’s also that qualitative stuff where it’s like, oh, if you can feel like lighter or you just have more capacity to be with your family or you have alone time, it’s like, that is so valuable it’s hard to like put a number on that.Or maybe it means like you start working on this project that you’ve been dying to work on, like you start creating that course or you’re writing that book and like, you’re not going to see the numbers from that right away, but that just might be an investment where you’re getting back the capacity to work on that, which maybe down the road turns into more money. Yeah, so lots of, it’s invaluable…

[00:19:29] Linzy: yeah, absolutely, and like I’m curious, like what would be your response to therapists who really have that challenge around, like, nobody can do it like I can.

[00:19:40] Jessica: Yeah,

[00:19:41] Linzy: This is a belief I see that stops people from getting help where it’s like, yeah, but nobody can do it. Like I can, like nobody can respond to client emails or I, I don’t even know. ‘Cause like, it could be literally anything, but yeah, what are your thoughts on that kind of belief?

[00:19:55] Jessica: Yeah, it’s tough because like, I totally relate to that and I feel like I’m also a perfectionist, struggling with control and letting go. So I totally understand. I think you have to find someone that’s a good fit and I think it’s so hard, but just none of this has to be long term. You can just try something, you can start small. I would say like, if you’re nervous about it and you’re like, oh my gosh, someone can’t do this as well as me. Start with a task that’s maybe you’re less involved in it in some way and doesn’t really require you as much or your voice or whatever.

[00:20:26] Start with that and just get used to dipping your toes into delegating that could be just a few hours a month or something. You can go from there. You kind of build that trust and I think just giving the VA trust is huge too. Like, which again, like I know it feels so scary, but when they don’t feel micromanaged and you trust them, I feel like they get access to just, there’s more purpose for them and they feel like more a part of your business and the bigger picture. It’s tough. It’s just finding the right person, really trying to have trust, but start small. If you’re new to delegating,start really small.

[00:20:57] Linzy: That’s a great way to frame it like new to delegating And for folks who are new to delegating, what are those nice kind of like light starter tasks that you see tend to be easiest for folks to give away?

[00:21:07] Jessica: I would say like scheduling blogs, if you do that,you could do maybe light email management, like just very, even like you could get some templates started and your VA could just like use templates to do stuff. You can also, I think a lot of therapists will have the VA sign off from the email instead of them. So it’s just like, it’s not actually you talking,if they’re worried about that. Just even tiny things like website updates or, yeah, like I know social media is just such a huge thing. So even if it’s like, maybe you don’t hire a social media manager to do your whole strategy, but maybe you’re like, I have some good ideas, but like, I don’t have time to create the carousels or edit the reels, you know, so like you’re still behind the big picture of it and you’re driving it forward, but they’re just doing like the little annoying tasks that are taking up

[00:21:56] Linzy: So it’s like, it’s like, here, I recorded this reel. Can you match it to this? Here’s the caption but they actually do the task of putting everything together.

[00:22:03] Jessica: Yeah or like scheduling takes so much time or writing captions so just those tasks that maybe don’t require you as much, like you can still do the big picture stuff, get your voice out there, and they can do the just annoying things that are taking up your time.

[00:22:15] Linzy: Yeah. Yeah, those little admin tasks that sometimes take so long too and something that I try to tell my students is often VAs, you folks are actually generally much faster and more efficient at those tasks than we are for a variety of reasons.

[00:22:31] Jessica: Right.

[00:22:32] Linzy: Partially because of your natural skills, which is why you’re in this field, but also I find, too, when it’s your own business, sometimes certain things can have an emotional weight that slows you down. Like for instance, if I think about replying to client emails or letting a client know that I’m sick, it’s if I was sick and I had to like call the client, like, I would like feel bad ’cause I’m like, oh, I knew what we were probably going to talk about today. And we had that EMDR target we were working on last week and like, you know, and so like for me it’s a very heavy task to call somebody and be like, I’m sorry, I’m so sick. You know? And like I have to, I feel like I have to sound extra sick if I’m calling them. Whereas like for a VA, they’re just like, Hey, Linzy’s sick today.

[00:23:03] Yeah, okay, I’ll get you scheduled tomorrow. Great, we’ll see you then, bye. Like, it’s such an emotionally light task. And how much more efficiency that adds when somebody, it’s not them, it’s not your brand, it’s not your voice. You don’t have all these complex relationships, yeah. I think that you actually tend to be much faster

[00:23:19] Jessica: Okay. Well, thank you. I didn’t, that’s nice to know.

[00:23:21] Linzy: Yeah. Certainly. So, you know, something else that I’m thinking about, Jess, is therapists, too, like we tend to think a lot about other people’s needs. Don’t know if you know that about us… You were a rec therapist I know, in your previous life, so I know you know what I’m talking about. And something that I also see therapists struggle with is this hesitation around like how little help can I ask for? Right? Like, we feel responsible. So if you want to bring on a VA, it feels like you should be bringing them on for like,20 hours a week or like full-time, you know? What is the smallest amount of work that you can ask a VA to do?

[00:23:53] Jessica: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I mean, I feel like I’ll start most questions with this, like it will depend on the VA obviously, but I wouldn’t worry too much about even if you’re just delegating a small amount of tasks every month, even if it’s like a few hours or something. Like I said, VAs have so many, usually a lot of different clients and they’ll let you know if they’re going to work for them or not.

[00:24:12] If they have the availability to do a couple hours a month, a few hours. Yeah, I mean I feel it feels weird to just say don’t worry about it, but like I would say honestly, yeah, just like it’s part of our job to just have a few different clients and I’m sure there’s so many VAs that would be more than happy to take on a client for just a few hours a month, or however much you need, and like, you can grow, too.

[00:24:31] Maybe that could be a question for the VA. Do you have the capacity to maybe if I need more hours, they might be able to help you with that. In the future,if you start building that trust and stuff and can slowly delegate more tasks. So, yeah, I wouldn’t be afraid to start small.

[00:24:44] Linzy: Yeah, because I think, too, as you’re describing that, it’s remembering that if you’re approaching somebody who’s actually a VA like you are, you have your own business. So you’ve already got, you know, your system set up. You’ve got maybe a few clients and you can say yes or no fit. I’m Jess, can you help me for like 15 minutes?

[00:24:59] Jessica: Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

[00:25:00] Linzy: Once a month, you’d probably be like, ah, maybe not that doesn’t quite fit what I need. But somebody else might be like, that’s perfect ’cause I have this. One hour spot in my week that I was looking to fill, and I’d be happy to put you in there. And so trusting the other person to also, you know, have set up systems, and be able to let you know what works for them and what doesn’t. I’m thinking of the therapist and just asking for what you actually want and need and as you say, you might say, can we start at like two hours a and can we start you with this task? But as trust grows and as you find that you’re a fit. Naturally their role might also grow and I’ve certainly had that, like our very first VA that we worked with,was also based here in Guelph by pure coincidence, found her online, and she started by doing just like the smallest tasks for us and eventually she became our first full-time employee But that was a natural progression, right?

[00:25:46] As we were like, oh, that was really great. Could you help with this too? Can you help with this too? You know, but we were able to toe-dip and slowly walk into the water together rather than diving into hiring a full-time administrator when we didn’t yet know how to get the help of a full-time administrator. ’cause we didn’t have SOPs in place. We didn’t know what we were doing.

[00:26:05] Jessica: Yeah,

[00:26:05] Linzy: And so it was a nice way to actually, for us to build a role,as our business grew, that position grew with our business.

[00:26:12] Jessica: Yeah, I think that’s such a great progression of how it can turn out. I remember my one client came to me just like not needing a ton of help. I think it was maybe like 10 hours a month or something. Tiny bit of social media management and like in the last over two years, like we’ve grown so much. Like she has a podcast now, and she’s writing a book, and she has a YouTube channel and now I do like 45 hours a month for her. She trusts me so much now ’cause like, it just takes time, right? You gotta like to build trust and show that you understand their business. And so she’s just been slowly been able to delegate more and it’s amazing. So we just keep kind of growing together. And I know not every VA would maybe have that capacity, but when you work so well together, I feel like you’re usually just open to being like, yeah, of course I want, I’ll take on more for you.

[00:26:55] Linzy: Yeah. And that right fit goes a long way like I know our VA turned employee, she let go of other clients

[00:27:01] Jessica: Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I did

[00:27:03] Linzy: more of a fit with you than I’m with these folks, so I’m going to wrap up my work over here so I can give you more hours. Right, so there, yeah, there’s a natural organic growth in that relationship. If it’s a relationship that works.

[00:27:13] Jessica: Exactly and that’s again, why it’s, yeah, so important that you’re a good fit, like in terms of personality and values and stuff.

[00:27:18] Linzy: Certainly. One more thing that I’m thinking of, ’cause this is one of the biggest hesitations I hear from therapists about VAs is like, it’s scary to spend the money, it’s scary to pay for help, right? It’s like, but I’m doing these things now and maybe the business isn’t even where they want it to be financially yet. Like what is the value of investing in some help or paying for help? How do you respond if you notice that folks are maybe hesitating to pay, or what would you say to somebody who really needs the help but is scared to spend the money on getting help from a VA?

[00:27:48] Jessica: Yeah, I mean, I think I would say, “What is the cost of not delegating? It’s so easy I feel like, to be like, well, I can just do it myself. Like it takes an hour or it’s so easy to get sucked into that, but it’s like, what is the cost? Like is it actually sustainable, what you’re doing? Are you working on the weekends? Are you taking time away from your family or like you’re just putting off that project that’s going to actually help you scale and grow your business. So I would just sort of try to flip it and be like, you know, what’s the cost of not doing it? You can look at it as an investment too, right?

[00:28:18] Like you, you might not always see results right away, or maybe see, like we talked about, like the qualitative results first, and then it becomes quantitative. yeah. So I would think of it that way and like I said, yeah, just start small. Think of it as even a trial. Start with someone, see if it’s a good fit and then you might be surprised where you’re just like, why didn’t I do this sooner? Like, I have so much more capacity now. So I think that’s what I would try to frame it as is what’s the cost of not delegating?

[00:28:44] Linzy: That is a great framing. I like that framing a lot and something too that I find a framing that I often use with folks is just doing a little bit of math too, where it’s like, okay, this person, what would you pay them for an hour of their work. And then what are you collecting for an hour of your work? Like if you can see one more client a week because you freed up these four hours and you only turn that into one more hour of your work, how does the math work out? And usually the math is pretty damn good on the side of therapists, right? Because when we do have availability in our schedule and we have the energy to see one more client, therapists on it for an hourly basis bring in a lot of money for that one hour,

[00:29:19] Jessica: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:29:20] Linzy: And so that can turn into a lot of help in your business. So if I think about that, if I think about turning one hour of my clinical time into four hours of help, it’s like, oh, that’s good math.

[00:29:30] Jessica: That’s a great way to put it. I’m paying this person this much, which I feel like most VAs are very reasonably priced to pay, and then what can you bring in. I feel like that can help as well. That’s a great way to think of it. Yeah.

[00:29:43] Linzy: Jess, thank you so much for coming in and shedding light on all things VA. If folks are interested in learning about your services and what you do,where could they find you? Because you are a VA for therapists. I will just say for people listening. So yeah, where could they find you?

[00:29:58] Jessica: yeah. So I am on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn virtually with Jess. And then I also have my website virtually with jess.com. That’s usually the best place to find me. I, at the time of this recording, I don’t have any room for clients unfortunately, but that could always change. You never know, but I do have an inquiry form at the link, my bio or my website to join a wait list if you’re interested. So, yeah.

[00:30:23] Linzy: Thank you so much, Jess, for coming on

[00:30:24] Jessica: Yeah, thank you for having me.

[00:30:36] Linzy: This conversation with Jess reminded me of my own journey and history with VAs and getting help. I got help early in my private practice when I was in solo practice, and still not even necessarily full, but was doing a transition between two clinic management softwares and was like, this is not a good use of my time. So at that time, I managed to get help from the administrator at the clinic that I was at. I was originally renting space at a clinic and it was such a relief to have that help and now in some ways I feel like I’ve gotten so much help in my business that I am not even good at admin anymore.

[00:31:12] If you can believe that. I was just saying to my team, jokingly, not jokingly this week, I should not be responsible for any administration or operations at this point because I’m spending so much of my time serving our actual students, right? Like coaching, doing our course calls, recording podcasts like this, doing presentations and workshops, doing the actual teaching, and idea generation for our business that I’ve become really bad at admin. I just don’t have the capacity or bandwidth. And that is totally fine ’cause it means that I’m actually able to show up in these spaces fully, without having to worry about some small administrative task and trying to remember if I have done it or not.

[00:31:52] So for folks who are considering getting some help, I highly recommend it. You are giving yourself the gift of not just time, but also getting back your bandwidth. And as Jess mentioned, for many folks, once they get their bandwidth back, whether it’s through, I see this when people get their relationship with money sorted, when they do, for instance, money skills for therapists and finally they’re not stressed about their business finances all the time, or when we get help with our administration, so we’re not doing our admin all the time.

[00:32:20] When we get that energy back sometimes it’s amazing what little project that was floating around your brain and felt impossible suddenly becomes possible because you have reclaimed your energy, you’ve reclaimed your bandwidth, and then you can make beautiful things happen in the world. That is probably not scheduling blog posts or scheduling social media posts or creating Instagram reels or any of those things.

[00:32:38] So appreciate Jess’s perspective today from the virtual assistant side of the relationship of how therapists can get help in doing this awesome work that we do. If you’re enjoying the podcast, it is so helpful if you leave me a review on Apple Podcast. Not only does it help people find the podcast, but lately I’ve been really getting into reading reviews as little love notes. You don’t have to leave me a love note, but if you’re enjoying the podcast and you have words that you could put to that enjoyment, it’s really nice for me to hear what the podcast means to you, and what you appreciate about the podcast. So you’re welcome to leave me a review on Apple Podcast. 

[00:33:16] And if you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me at Money Nuts and Bolts. Thank you so much for joining me today.