Learn More about the Life First Business Lab : https://www.deeplyrootedbusiness.com/lfbl?podcast

If hiring support in your business has ever left you feeling burnt out, frustrated, or wondering if you’re just “bad at delegation”, this episode is your permission slip to rethink everything.

Because the truth?

Your last hire probably didn’t fail because of you. You were just trying to solve the wrong problem.

In this episode, we’re unpacking:

• why traditional VA support often creates MORE work for overwhelmed founders
• the real reason delegation keeps falling apart
• how AI can support your business without replacing human creativity
• the shift from hiring “doers” to building systems that reduce mental load

We’re talking about:

• the invisible labor of running a business
• the capacity ceiling most solopreneurs hit around growth
• why your brain feels overloaded all the time
• and how AI assistants can finally help carry the weight

If you’ve ever thought:

“I should just do it myself…”

“I don’t have time to train someone…”

“Why does nobody execute things the way I need them done…”

…this episode is going to hit home.

And if you’re ready to stop duct-taping your business together with sticky notes, forgotten tasks, and mental tabs that never close…

Check out the Life First Business Lab: https://www.deeplyrootedbusiness.com/lfbl

A plug-and-play AI employee membership designed for non-techy business owners who need real support without building everything from scratch.

Inside the lab, you’ll get AI assistants trained to help with:

• content creation
• bottleneck identification
• task management
• strategy support
• decision fatigue
• and the recurring work draining your capacity

Because you don’t need to “do more.” You need systems that help you carry it.

Meet Your Hosts

Jessica Walther is the founder and CEO of The Launch Collaborative and Sustainable Success Systems. As a launch strategist and systems consultant, Jess is dedicated to helping solo business owners and small-but-mighty teams build businesses that deliver both peace and profit. She specializes in creating sustainable growth strategies that align with her clients' values and lifestyles.

Rachel Lopez is the founder and CEO of Gal Marketing Agency, a boutique email marketing and strategy firm. With over a decade of experience, Rachel helps heart-driven entrepreneurs craft intentional marketing strategies that attract, nurture, and convert leads sustainably. Her human-first approach ensures that marketing efforts feel authentic and effective .

Together, Jess and Rachel blend systems, storytelling, and soulful strategy to help you grow a business that's deeply aligned with your life—not just your revenue goals.

Connect With Us:

• Jess Website
• Rachel's Website

Hang Out & Say Hi!

• Deeply Rooted Business Instagram
• Jess Instagram
• Rachel's Instagram

So if you brought someone on in the past year or two and it didn't

2

quite pan out, maybe someone like a VA

or somebody who you really thought was

3

going to support your business, but

they never quite could catch on to your

4

business or your ways of doing things.

5

And they just kept messing the mark.

6

And then eventually either they

ghosted or you kind of just stop

7

delegating them tasks and they

quietly faded off into the yonder.

8

promise you, you're not bad at hiring.

9

not bad at delegating either.

10

It's that you were trying

to solve the wrong problem.

11

And today we're going to name

exactly what you were doing wrong

12

and show you what to do instead.

13

Rachel: So welcome back to

another episode of the Growing a

14

Deeply Rooted Business podcast.

15

I'm Rachel, your marketing ecosystem

strategist, and I'm here with Jess, our

16

sustainable systems growth strategist.

17

And I feel like this episode was

designed for me maybe a year ago.

18

This is a real problem for

business owners, and I think

19

the, the mental aspect of this.

20

So we're gonna make sure that we

protect our energy a little bit.

21

We don't get triggered by certain things.

22

I know personally, my energy around the

word hiring Gives me a little PTSD, right?

23

It kind of makes me think, I'm the

one that's doing it wrong, that I

24

have missed so many, key people.

25

I've scrolled endlessly

through Fiverr and Upwork.

26

So if you are in the same

boat as us, you are not alone.

27

Jessica: Yep.

28

So today we're gonna be walking you

through the three reasons that your

29

last hire didn't work and why the

next one probably won't either if

30

nothing changes about you or how

you're thinking about the problem.

31

And we're gonna be giving you a model

for what getting help looks like or

32

getting support looks like in your

33

different now with the emergence of AI.

34

So let's get into point number one.

35

The hard truth is if you didn't have

time to train that last new hire

36

that you thought was gonna save your

time in your business and give your

37

weekends back, probably not gonna

have time to train the next one.

38

Rachel: Yeah, and this is such a

true statement for myself, where a

39

lot of my clients do operate in a

little bit of that, we are probably

40

a month ahead, but then we're

already planning for that next month.

41

So you're always actively working

on something which probably

42

is keeping you at capacity.

43

And if maybe…

44

You know, I've seen a lot

of businesses too, where…

45

A month ahead is a dream.

46

So the whole reason that you're

hiring as a business owner, or maybe

47

it's that hiring of that VA or that

contractor, is to really kind of assist

48

in getting that heavy lifted or those

kind of tedious tasks off your plate.

49

But the reality is, is that you're really

only giving yourself that 20-minute

50

window in between calls to really train

her, and then you have systemized it so

51

well inside your own brain that you're

like, "Oh, well, instead of just training

52

this person then having to wait for

that feedback, I'll just get it done

53

because I know I can knock it out in

15, and then I can go grab coffee for

54

the last five of my 20-minute break."

55

I think the core of the

problem right there, is that

56

we're all trying to get ahead.

57

But Jess, tell me if I'm wrong

here, the heavy lifting of doing

58

it all is really the part that

is going to then get you ahead.

59

So it's a little bit of three

steps back in order to move

60

ahead 10 steps in the future.

61

Jessica: Yeah, I mean, I think the

key problem here is I think most

62

traditional business advice or what I

hear business coaches say is when you

63

get to capacity "Oh, hire that ops admin

VA to help you clear off your plate."

64

And I have never myself personally

found relief from investing

65

in an admin VA like that.

66

I don't even wanna say they're bad,

but if they're at that $ 20, $15

67

skill set, they don't have enough

knowledge for me not to be teaching.

68

On the flip side, whenever I've hired

anyone, like when I've hired you to

69

come in and help me with emails for

the business or, you know, we have

70

a designer that I work with a lot,

they're definitely higher ticket

71

people, so I don't have to train them.

72

That's when I found the relief is

when I finally brought the girl that

73

I work very closely with now on.

74

She is like designer, she is tech.

75

She is more expensive.

76

She ate into my salary.

77

I have taken a pay cut in the hopes

that I could do that, but I didn't

78

have to spend time training her and

we'll get into the cost of it all ever.

79

it's like if you don't have the

time, you don't have the time.

80

So on the flip side, I still need

to add that admin work though.

81

It's still taking up some of my time,

so what I started doing was instead of

82

hiring that VA, as I was training her,

I was realizing as I was writing this

83

SOP, I could just put this into Claude

and it could do it for me, you know?

84

And then that would free up time, money

for my budget to be able to bring on this

85

other person that was a higher budget.

86

So that's kind the trade-off

there for most repetitive work.

87

That example we gave last week was she was

taking my meeting transcripts and putting

88

it into Notion or she was cleaning out

my inbox or making sure that my calendar

89

was set or repurposing podcast notes

or researching people for me to pitch.

90

That's all really good tasks

that can be delegated to an EA.

91

And I know that sounds bad because

that's taking someone's job.

92

But I think in the next level of business,

I think that's all the all of like why

93

everyone should learn and arm themselves

with VAs because you can still be a

94

really good VA and give a lot of value

95

Rachel: Yep.

96

Jessica: You know how to

use AI this way, I guess.

97

Rachel: Yeah.

98

And I think, the reality of it is,

is that in order to have somebody,

99

small businesses with lean teams,

I'll use myself as an example.

100

I am frugal, and I am highly

protective of my margin.

101

So if I'm gonna hire somebody to take

on these tasks that are eating up

102

most of my free time in my work hours,

it's gonna require four different

103

people to sufficiently do the job.

104

And so many people try to hire that

unicorn fix, but really it's, it's

105

finding that person that's going to

be able to execute in various areas.

106

And honestly, that has been Claude

coworker or Claude skills for me, because

107

if I'm sitting there thinking I'm gonna

pay my $100 max for my Claude Max or

108

Claude Pro or whatever, and that's

gonna knock out social media, that's

109

gonna knock out proofreading, cleaning

up, all of these various things, that's

110

gonna cost me at least $1,500 for

three different people to do it, maybe

111

five hours minimum a month or a week.

112

The math is just not there for

somebody who is very protective

113

of their margin and of their time.

114

Jessica: Yeah.

115

I think that brings us into point number

two is that if you're a small business

116

and we wear 50 million hats and you're

thinking about, okay, I need help and

117

what do I need someone to help me with?

118

It's like, oh, I need someone to

help me with social and email and

119

podcast editing and client onboarding

and sales and also research.

120

Rachel: Right.

121

Jessica: And training ourselves.

122

But I don't have four years to train

somebody else on how to get to that level.

123

And if I wanted to hire someone at that

level like me, another me, it would be

124

one hundred and twenty dollars an hour.

125

And that would make no

sense for me at this part.

126

So we just hired at twenty dollars

an hour and asked her to be

127

six specialists and she failed.

128

And not because she's bad at her

job or she didn't want to do good.

129

But it's just the role that we handed

her was for six different jobs and

130

bundled up into a one job trench coat.

131

Rachel: Yeah.

132

So ultimately, it's not

a hiring problem, right?

133

Either the work falls on you or you

have gone over budget in an area.

134

So in reality, it's a budget

meets reality problem that we

135

actually have to assess here.

136

So we as small business owners or

solopreneurs are existing in a world

137

where we need a social media manager,

we need a writer, we need an ops person,

138

we need somebody that's gonna research.

139

We also need to have time to be

that strategist, to do the client

140

work, to do all of the things.

141

And for somebody that's saying, "Hey,

realistically, I'm not trying to make

142

a bazillion dollars in my business.

143

I'm trying to make enough that I can

truly enjoy my life and spend time

144

with my family and do all of this."

145

All of that is not gonna be hireable

as individual people, and we've

146

already learned it's not gonna be

hireable as an individual single person

147

trying to do six different expertise.

148

So that really does put you in

a situation where you have to

149

think smarter and not harder.

150

So getting yourself unstuck in that bucket

is key, where you have to say, "Am I

151

going to then look at the resources that

are available to me, and then maybe see

152

how this allows me to expand my capacity

using various tools and all of that?"

153

Jessica: I think the more archaic

version when we came on the scene,

154

templates were all the rage.

155

I would buy email templates and I would

be like this and wear this, or plug and

156

play social media calendars, because

that was just a way of small business

157

owners like us that have tiny teams

or are solopreneurs trying to find

158

a way to be able to fit this all in.

159

And now there is a third option,

and that third option is AI.

160

And AI is not gonna be able to take over

every job, nor should you delegate it

161

to every job, and nor should you just

kinda let it run rogue and just pump out

162

content without you even looking at it.

163

But it can help you kinda be able to move

faster and spread your ideas and your

164

business vision and all of that faster.

165

It's just helping you plant more

seeds faster is what I look like.

166

And it's helped kinda give you a

leg up the big old businesses that

167

you're trying to compete with as well.

168

Rachel: Yeah.

169

So we're not trying to make

this sound replace hiring a

170

VA ' cause this is cheaper.

171

This is the reality of saying that

this is the team that you've pretending

172

that you don't need, and it's a finally

affordable option to take advantage of.

173

If we reflect back on this one

episode that Jess was talking

174

about the capacity triangle.

175

What is it called?

176

The project…

177

What is it?

178

Jessica: manager triangle, where you have

179

Rachel: Yes.

180

Right.

181

Jessica: have time,

and budget, and they're

182

Rachel: Right.

183

Jessica: Related.

184

So as your scope goes up, as your business

grows, as you wanna take on more projects

185

or more goals, either the time you have

to spend on it goes up, or the money you

186

have to spend to make it happen goes up.

187

And this is kind of a way of that

back down in a more cost, protective.

188

Innovation sits at the center of

that and that unlocks everything

189

else, and innovation right now is AI.

190

Rachel: Yeah.

191

So that brings us to point number

three, which is, instead of saying,

192

"I just need somebody to kind of take

things off my plate," and you hiring

193

a doer, but that doesn't really take a

lot, it adds more time for you, right?

194

Because you actually needed a thinker

to expand and take a lot of that

195

mental workload, the invisible labor of

running a business, off of your plate.

196

Or an external place that can store

it, then that can run it over and over

197

versus you having to sit there and

say to your VA, like, "Hey, I need an

198

email, and I need it to be about this,"

and then you end up spending an hour

199

kind of documenting what you want.

200

Because as business owners, we

all know what comes out of our

201

brands and what comes out of our

businesses needs to fit, right?

202

It's the reason so many people have

abandoned AI is because it's like,

203

"Oh, that doesn't sound like me.

204

That sounds like trash."

205

But in reality, trying to put

your brain into a doer's brain

206

is gonna spend so much time.

207

I've been there.

208

I've hired countless people that I've

approached in the doer's way and be

209

like, "Oh, just be a doer for me.

210

Execute this.

211

Get it out of here."

212

And then they missed the mark.

213

So I think that that's kind of one of

those things where it's like I really

214

needed somebody to bounce ideas off of.

215

And why, this is why Jess and I work

so well together, is because we're

216

able to kind of elevate our ideas

and take them to the next level.

217

I mean, Jess has been in my

business before, so I'm not

218

saying, "Jess, be a doer for me."

219

I'm saying, "Be a strategic thinker

and a partner with me on this."

220

Jessica: A lot of the most useful AI

assistants that I've built so far are

221

just the ones that are the cognitive load

222

Rachel: Yeah.

223

Mm-hmm.

224

Yeah.

225

Jessica: schedules, making sure I'm

prepped for the next meeting, taking

226

the task out of the meetings, checking

my inbox, making sure there's no tasks,

227

doing that, checking my calendar and

making sure I'm all squared away there.

228

A lot of it has just been being able to

get it out of my brain and making sure

229

that I'm not missing things, and then

230

Rachel: Mm-hmm.

231

Jessica: Just having a

brainstorming partner.

232

As much as I love to get on the phone and

chat with Rachel and brainstorm and chat

233

with her, I can't huddle her every two

seconds I have a thought or a crazy idea.

234

So just having something that knows

a lot about my business, has all the

235

background, the insight that I can kind of

236

Rachel: Yeah.

237

Jessica: back and forth with,

and play devil's advocate or act

238

Rachel: Yeah.

239

Jessica: You're this kind of a consultant,

and look at this and tell me what

240

you see you're still using your own

layer of strategy and what you know.

241

Like, I'm gonna take this from your

business, I'm gonna take this from

242

your business, I'm gonna take this.

243

You know what right looks like, but

it's still nice to have that kind of

244

brainstorming partner that you can

lean on, especially with if you're

245

a solopreneur or you're a tiny team.

246

Rachel: So at this point, our Life First

Business Lab is out into the world, and

247

I wanna say the AI team member that I've

onboarded that has truly been the most

248

impactful has been the bottleneck Betty.

249

She has been one that is the hardest

of the hard truths, was like, "Yeah,

250

you can't take on five more clients

one-on-one done for you because

251

it's the easiest for you to sign.

252

You are at capacity."

253

She took in my Life First rhythm, which

said my personal goals are that I wanna

254

be offline at this time, I wanna be not

doing this day work and all of this.

255

And she said, "Not gonna work."

256

I love that…

257

Jessica: because I had a conversation

with Betty this week too.

258

And I was telling Betty, "Betty, I set

this goal that I wanted to put eight

259

YouTube videos out on my channel,

and I never have time to do it."

260

And Betty's like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.

261

Don't you already record

a podcast every week?

262

And you

263

Rachel: Yeah.

264

Yeah.

265

Jessica: and you're launching this lab.

266

The bottleneck is not

that you don't have time.

267

There is no bottleneck.

268

It's that you're at capacity, basically.

269

You don't have time.

270

So is this really a priority?

271

Do you wanna deprioritize the

podcast or do the YouTube?"

272

So I'm like, "Oh, you're right.

273

Thanks, Betty.

274

I don't feel bad about not

sitting down to record those

275

Rachel: Yeah.

276

Jessica: because I just

don't have the time

277

Rachel: So

278

Jessica: that

279

Rachel: in

280

Jessica: now."

281

So we love you,

282

Rachel: addition to four other,

283

Jessica: got TikTok Tina.

284

TikTok

285

Rachel: Yeah.

286

TikToks that I've used this week as well.

287

It's just these areas where it's

super valuable to have somebody that's

288

well, maybe we shouldn't call them

somebodies, but like have a resource

289

that is so connected to my business

that has allowed me to just have

290

an idea, I'm gonna run with this.

291

And instead of me wasting my very,

very valuable time, course correct

292

a lot faster than I traditionally

would've had I gone down the rabbit

293

hole and done all of these things.

294

So, the AI assistants that are inside

of the Life First Business Lab are all

295

surrounding various areas of your business

to truly help you to take that mental

296

workload off of your plate and get certain

things that maybe you've been neglecting

297

in business or maybe you've just kind

of been avoiding and dusting them

298

under the rug and being like, "Nobody's

ever gonna know I'm not doing this."

299

But truly it's on your annual plan, it's

on your business goals that you're saying,

300

"If I only did this, it would amplify

X goal," or whatever the case may be.

301

So that's the thought process and the

design behind these assistants is to

302

truly take you from step one to step six.

303

Yeah.

304

Jessica: Yeah, and I mean, I think

the visual that I was just getting

305

in my head when I was thinking

about it is for so long I felt

306

I'm on this hamster wheel, right?

307

'Cause I think we're probably both

around that 100K, right over 100K mark.

308

At that point, you start hitting a

ceiling, and if you don't have money

309

to invest and take the risk and j-just

say, "I'm gonna hire, you know, this

310

assistant and come this big team

to come help me, and hopefully it

311

works out," then this is a good way

to kinda get you to that next level.

312

I don't think that I can run a $500,000

business just with my little AI team here.

313

But I do think I will be able to

still maintain a tinier team where

314

I can prioritize life and still

get everything I want and still

315

make the impact I wanna get done.

316

But then they're gonna have these little

AI assistant helpers already trained

317

to kinda help them help me help y'all.

318

So,

319

Rachel: So yeah, you have been in

this hiring predicament, right?

320

It feels like this hamster wheel

of, attempting to hire someone and

321

then it kind of failing, and then

you try again, and then you're like,

322

"Oh, it just would've saved me so

much time had I done it myself."

323

But then you're also craving

that free time or that room

324

to grow in your business.

325

That's exactly why we created the

Life First Business Lab is to really

326

help you in this area that's going

to then Take the workload off your

327

plate, get you to a place that's

actually then actionable for you.

328

And that's kind of where it's at.

329

You get a new AI employee delivered

to your inbox every Monday, one

330

that's completely trained on your

voice, in your business, and to the

331

standards that you hold for yourself.

332

They literally take 10 minutes to

onboard and bring into your business,

333

into your Claude, and it really is super

supportive to not just have somebody

334

doing tasks for you, but helping you

bring more decisions to fruition versus

335

exhausting you in decision fatigue.

336

So this is honestly the team that

you have been pretending that you

337

don't need, but actually need to

execute and grow your business.

338

Jessica: Yes, and I mean, without

our lab employees, I don't think

339

the lab would actually exist

because a lot of them were actually

340

Rachel: So…

341

Jessica: while I was building the lab.

342

If you're interested in this, you

can definitely check out the lab.

343

A membership where, like we said, you'll

get a new AI employee trained on not only

344

the strategy and the best practices that

Rachel and I do, but also when you first

345

onboard them and bring them into Claude,

they all have a little onboarding sequence

346

that they go through with you to make

sure they're customized for your business.

347

can go ahead and check that out.

348

And if this episode hit home, make sure

you share it with a business bestie,

349

you know the one that is quietly crying

and keeps saying she wants to hire a

350

VA, but the last four didn't work out.

351

Tell her it wasn't her.

352

It wasn't her.

353

And then make sure you come find us on

Instagram at Deeply Rooted Business and

354

tell us what is your biggest bottleneck.

355

We wanna know what employees

we need to build next.

356

until next week, we are for you.