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.

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

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

2

determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

3

This is Speaking From The Heart.

4

Joshua: Welcome back to episode

number 154 of Speaking from the Heart.

5

Today, we have Katie Santoro, and Katie

is a burnout survivor on a mission

6

to help others avoid the same by

offering virtual assistance to business

7

owners and busy professionals while

simultaneously creating employment

8

for individuals needing flexibility.

9

In 2019, Katie left her corporate

job in the insurance industry to

10

run her first business, a yoga

studio, after experiencing burnout.

11

When she closed her yoga studio

during the pandemic, she began

12

considering a return to corporate life.

13

Knowing she couldn't return without

risking another burnout, she used her

14

experiences in the legal and insurance

industry with running a small business and

15

began assisting clients as a freelancer.

16

As she grew, she recruited from her

network of friends who were leaving

17

the workforce due to struggles of

child care during the pandemic, and

18

River City Virtual Assistants was born.

19

The company is dedicated to providing

assistance to clients and is committed to

20

providing meaningful employment to parents

and caretakers within the United States.

21

I love this episode

for many, many reasons.

22

It's given me even new hope on the

fact that the era of virtual assistants

23

is here to stay, but Katie's story is

one of the many stories that we often

24

hear, even post-COVID world, about how

the skills sometimes that we're left

25

behind, have been transferred, they have

been accumulating into what ultimately

26

becomes opportunities for others, become

the best versions of who they are.

27

I love that she even involves herself

today with talking about her employment,

28

why that was such a big catalyst to

starting this conversation, to starting

29

this business that she has now, and how

she helps so many people, regardless of

30

what they might have as businesses, and

managing the expectations that they have

31

to have, in order to have those demands

be met at the times that are needed.

32

I think you will find that Katie's

story about burnout is quite different

33

from other stories and how she's

turned that burnout into purpose,

34

and how she's been able to help so

many find their purpose as well.

35

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

36

All right.

37

We're here with Katie Santoro.

38

Katie, thanks for sharing

your heart with us today.

39

Katie: Thank you.

40

I'm glad to be here.

41

Joshua: I am so glad that you are here

too, and I feel like we have a lot to

42

cover today, and we have a lot in common

from what I read to my audience about

43

you, so Katie, I did let them know a

little bit about your background, but

44

I have to start from the roots, the

origin story, of what you started.

45

Obviously, you started a business after

a lot of events happened in your life,

46

and I find that we have that similarity

in our life, so I have to follow this.

47

This is like an interesting trail for me.

48

You did insurance as a first business,

then you did a yoga studio, and then

49

after that, it was the pandemic, and

then you started the current business.

50

Walk us through why the different

jobs, and what led to the

51

burnout that you experienced.

52

Katie: There's a lot of overlap in

all of those things, so my career

53

was in the legal and insurance world.

54

My last job was working in insurance

claims, and I did that for a little over

55

five years and a couple of years into it,

I felt like I needed more in life, and I

56

opened a yoga studio, so the yoga studio

and the career happened at the same time.

57

They coincided, and that's

what led to the burnout.

58

In 2019, I finally got to the point

where I knew that I could not stay in

59

my career if I wanted to live the life

that I wanted to live, and I left.

60

I left my job.

61

I was running the yoga studio.

62

That was my full time gig, if you will.

63

Actually, my full time gig at that

time was healing from burnout, because

64

I had gotten to the point where it

was affecting every part of my life,

65

so the yoga studio was going on.

66

I went to Costa Rica to get

some more training in yoga.

67

Also part of my healing journey

really helped me heal energetically.

68

While I was there, the border shut

69

and yeah, I came home, I figured out

how to run a yoga studio online, ran

70

it online for a couple of months,

and then originally, what was it?

71

We were going to close down for two weeks,

right, and then it was seven weeks, and

72

it just kind of kept on going on and

on, and I was teaching classes out of my

73

office on Zoom, and I still had bills to

pay for the physical studio that I had.

74

We had a personal guaranteed lease,

which was really scary for me, and

75

I was going to go back to work.

76

I could go back to my old job.

77

I could find another job.

78

I have tons of experience.

79

I have licenses and certifications.

80

I could do whatever I needed to

do, and my now husband talked

81

me out of it, and he was right.

82

He said, "You were a monster.

83

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

84

If I had gone back it would have

been extremely detrimental to

85

my emotional and mental well

being, so I started freelancing

86

as an administrative assistant.

87

Skills I had; things that I could

work with, and the business has

88

really just grown from there.

89

First, I found a lot of clients that

needed what I could give, which was

90

being reliable, being consistent,

knowing how to do the admin work.

91

I'm very curious.

92

I always like to figure

out how to get things done.

93

I'm a natural problem solver, and then

I started realizing that there was a lot

94

of women in my same situation who had

left work or were not returning to work

95

because of COVID, and for a lot of them,

it was childcare; taking care of their

96

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

97

I started recruiting people, women

from my network that wanted to work,

98

but wanted to work virtually, and

matching them with clients that I had.

99

I have more clients than I could handle

who needed good, strong assistance.

100

Joshua: Finding that good assistant,

or finding someone that has the skill

101

sets that you have, I have to say.

102

First off, there was a lot that you shared

with just the different fields that you've

103

been in, because for many people to be

able to take that in one big package and

104

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

105

That takes some great creativity and

opportunity, and you capitalized on

106

something that for many years now,

a lot of people were like, "Eh.

107

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

but the pandemic kind of pushed

108

everybody to think outside the box.

109

Now, I have to ask you this because

you said something that is, for many

110

listeners, they probably never really

heard this other side of what COVID is

111

all about, so you were in Costa Rica,

and you were teaching yoga virtually?

112

Is that what you were doing?

113

Katie: No, no.

114

I was in Costa Rica taking a training.

115

I was getting my 500 hour yoga

certification, and when I got back-

116

I actually started before I got back,

because we knew what was going on.

117

It was very weird.

118

I remember calling my husband and

being like, "What is going on at

119

home?", because here, we're like

in this little bubble, right?

120

We're in this yoga retreat.

121

You're with 27 other people.

122

Everybody's holding hands and hugging, and

it's just like this little yoga bubble,

123

and I was like, "What in the world is

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

124

"Well, things are starting to shut down.

125

People are freaking out.

126

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

127

All of those things, so I

started connecting with my

128

students virtually at that point.

129

I sent an email out to everybody.

130

I said, "I'm in Costa Rica.

131

I'd love to have a class, just

virtually on Zoom to connect with

132

you all.", and then the next day,

the school that I was at closed.

133

They basically said, "You don't have

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

134

The borders are closing.

135

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

immediately started teaching yoga.

136

Everything was closed by the

time I got home and immediately

137

started teaching online.

138

Joshua: Okay.

139

You had me nervous there

for a second like, "Oh.

140

Well, I was stuck in Costa Rica for a

few months.", and I almost thought that

141

maybe you had to work through that,

but even then that's still a challenge.

142

Katie: There were people that stayed,

and it was interesting because in a

143

yoga training, you're with people who

are 18 to 60, across the gamut, and

144

there were some people that decided to

stay because they were like, "Well, the

145

borders are closing, but that doesn't mean

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

146

I'm like, "They will let you back

in, but are you going to be able

147

to get a flight home?", so for

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

148

I'm getting this flight.

149

I'm getting home as soon as I can to

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

150

at that time, we just thought we were

going to be closed down for two weeks.

151

Joshua: That's very smart that you were

thinking like, "Maybe I should get out of

152

here and not be trapped here.", so that

was a smart move on your part because

153

I remember that I took a trip to Paris

about two months before, and there were

154

some rumblings of it, because in January

155

world stage, but it wasn't anything that

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

156

If this would have happened to me

when I was taking this trip to Paris,

157

when I was overseas, I wonder what the

logistical nightmare would have been."

158

I would have been freaking out.

159

I would have needed to

hire a virtual assistant.

160

Katie: There was a group of people in

the yoga community, in the city that

161

I'm from, they were in Peru doing a

training, and they couldn't get back,

162

and they had to charter a private plane,

and there was a big GoFundMe to get them

163

home, just because the borders are open

doesn't mean that people have to fly you

164

back, so the airline shut down Anyways.

165

Joshua: No, it's a very fascinating aspect

of it, so here's another question I have

166

before we dive into your business, because

I think this might've set some of the

167

stage for what you ultimately started.

168

Do you feel that learning to adjust

with the different technologies that

169

you had to utilize, especially with

yoga and things like that, do you think

170

that was the precursor to helping you

start your business that you now run?

171

Katie: Absolutely.

172

When I first opened the yoga studio,

I didn't know what the heck I was

173

doing, so I hired a business coach.

174

Everyone should at some point

work with a business coach.

175

I also worked with a coach when I

started this business, but the coaching

176

program that I did for the yoga

studio was very technical literacy,

177

so like working on your website,

setting up your CRM, doing your email

178

automations, like all of that kind of

digital literacy of digital marketing.

179

That helped me.

180

I don't know if I would have

been able to start the business I

181

have now without that foundation.

182

I use so much of it, although it's

a completely different industry, a

183

completely different business that was

a solid foundation for me, just like

184

with digital marketing that allowed

me to make the switch, and being a

185

virtual assistant, it was something

that had sat in my mind for a while.

186

I remember when I was at the insurance

company, I had a friend- we're still

187

very close friends, and we have worked

at other places before together, and

188

I remember we sat next to each other.

189

We had these low cubicles, and I

remember, popping over it one day

190

and being like, "Let's just quit.

191

Let's just leave, and we

could, like, freelance, and do

192

this stuff for somebody else.

193

Let's just leave."

194

there was another day where I

tried to convince her to quit

195

our jobs and start a mimosa cart.

196

I thought that was a great idea too.

197

Very early in my burnout.

198

I was already starting to spiral, but

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

199

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

of like that convergence of learning

200

the digital marketing, opening my first

business as the yoga studio, getting the

201

confidence, and then the world shutting

down, and me having to figure it out.

202

I reached into my toolbox, and I pulled

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

203

That same friend, we always

joke about, one time I said,

204

I was like, "You can quit.

205

You've got skills.

206

We don't know what they are, but

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

207

I kind of always think about that

in how I started this business.

208

I was like, "I have skills.

209

I don't know what I

have, but I've got them.

210

Let's figure it out."

211

Joshua: Well, this leads into maybe

one of my last questions before we

212

dive into business, because it has

some curiosity rolling in my mind,

213

but, you have all these skill sets.

214

What was the one thing that you felt you

had to stretch yourself in doing when

215

you started out, meaning, was there a

particular skill that you didn't feel

216

as good about, but maybe you needed to

learn a little bit, because you mentioned

217

something about having a business coach.

218

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

the one that really helped me with

219

getting started with my business

and setting some of the foundations,

220

like, "Why are you doing this?

221

Why are you doing that?", kind of helping

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

222

wondering if there's something that helped

stretch you to get to that point where

223

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

224

Katie: My husband.

225

We weren't married then.

226

We're married now.

227

We probably would have never gotten

married had I not left my career, and gone

228

on this path, because I was a completely

different person, and it wasn't the

229

nicest person, but I remember one night

we were talking about this new client

230

that I had just started working with,

and they worked on a program Kajabi.

231

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

232

It's a learning management system, and

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

233

afraid to take on this new client, and

we kind of talked it through, and it's

234

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

I might mess it up, and how do I even

235

market myself as someone who can do

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

236

and he was like, "Eventually, you're

just going to have to take on assignments

237

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

going to have to figure it out.", and

238

he was so right, and I still do that.

239

I don't do client work anymore,

but in my own business, I say,

240

"This is something we want to do.

241

I don't know how to do it.

242

Let's figure it out.", so just

constantly pushing yourself outside of

243

your comfort zone, which we all talk

about that, but it's actually making

244

yourself do things you don't think you

can do because you really can do them.

245

Joshua: Oh.

246

That's the old adage that I keep saying

to myself too is that I need to just

247

do it, and just see what happens, and

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

248

I'm sure you have many stories

just like what I can think

249

of relating to that as well.

250

I think, if anything, I know that

we hear a lot about corporate

251

America kind of like, "Oh yeah.

252

They're inventing all these new things."

253

it's small business that is really

diving into those ideas, so kudos to you.

254

Katie: Yeah.

255

Yeah, and the flip side of that is being

really aware of where I'm pushing myself

256

too hard, because that's what got me

into burnout is my own expectations of

257

myself having too high of expectations,

and constantly feeling like I'm not

258

able to meet them, so even now with

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

259

these things and then I look at what

I can actually handle right now with

260

everything else on my plate.", and

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

261

Now's not the time to learn this new

skill, or do this new thing, because

262

my focus needs to be elsewhere, and I

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

263

Joshua: Absolutely, and it's about

managing those expectations of what you

264

can and cannot do, which that leads into

a perfect segue about your business.

265

Let's dive into it, because you

run River City Virtual Assistants.

266

First off, what's the River City?

267

Is that based on some sort

of place that you lived?

268

Can you tell us a little

bit about the business name?

269

I find that very unique.

270

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

in Richmond, Virginia, and it's considered

271

River City, but there was a couple of

plays on that word, so River City Virtual

272

Assistants, so it's River City VAs, and

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

273

and then the other one is I knew that

there's lots of cities in the United

274

States that call themselves River City, so

like San Antonio, Texas, also River City,

275

so I was like, "This will give us enough

ambiguity to have that virtual aspect."

276

Joshua: That is so cute.

277

I love that, because that does

leave a lot of interpretation and

278

variety that you can dive into.

279

Absolutely.

280

Tell us, what do you call a virtual

assistant, because I will set this

281

out, and this is from my listeners too.

282

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

if you hire me as a virtual assistant,

283

this is what I can do for you."

284

"If you hire me, this other person, as

a virtual assistant, this is the things

285

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

tell us what you consider what a virtual

286

assistant is in today's environment,

and what you do to fill that gap.

287

Katie: In the very clean sense of it

is we provide executive admin support,

288

marketing support, operational support

to business owners, small businesses,

289

solopreneurs, and executives.

290

That's very broad though, right, so

people always ask, "Well, what do you

291

do?", and the answer is everything.

292

The thing that we do differently

at River City Virtual Assistants

293

is we recognize that one virtual

assistant cannot know everything they

294

need to know to work for a client.

295

If you're working with a couple of

different clients, those clients

296

are going to have different needs.

297

One might be on HubSpot.

298

One might be on Copper.

299

One might be on Squarespace.

300

One might be on WordPress, so there's

all these different things that

301

you're having to kind of constantly

pivot, so the way that we've worked

302

around that is we've created kind

of like a communal learning system.

303

Everybody who comes to work with us

goes through a three month mentorship.

304

They meet with their mentor once a week.

305

They talk about the different things they

need to learn, that mentor helps them,

306

and then if it's outside the mentors

skill set, you've got 20 other people on

307

the team so the mentor will say, "Hey.

308

Let's check out who's

working on what program.

309

We've got like a spreadsheet

of what everybody works on.

310

I'm going to connect you with this person.

311

They can train you on how to do whatever

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

312

Everybody says you need

to niche down, right?

313

The riches are in the niches.

314

You have to have this 1 thing

that you work on, and I believe

315

that a good assistant needs

to be more of a generalist.

316

They need to have the support system

to learn the things that they need to

317

learn, and the resources to learn those

things, but they need to be able to

318

go outside of just their little niche.

319

We can find somebody who really

specializes in WordPress, right?

320

We have people on our team who

are like, "I love WordPress.

321

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

working on Kajabi.", but they're

322

going to need to do more than that

to be your assistant, so we train

323

them on all the different things.

324

Well rounded.

325

Joshua: I personally use Wix

for my website, so you got

326

anybody with Wix on your team?

327

Katie: I have to check our tech stack.

328

I've never worked on Wix, but

I'm sure someone on our team has.

329

Joshua: Awesome, so that tells me though

that you're very resourceful, and that

330

is something I especially think as a

virtual assistant, you have to be able to

331

dive into a number of different things.

332

When you look at some of

the people that say, "Yeah.

333

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

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

698

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.

700

It just means that we have to

put a little bit more effort

701

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

706

exactly why Katie's story, amongst many

others, are featured on this podcast.

707

It shows a glimmer of hope, a way

in which we're able to create that

708

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

711

she's been able to accomplish, but you

heard what she had to go through to

712

get to that point, and that's exactly

why I relate to her story so much.

713

I was burned out after I tried

to kill myself four and a half

714

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,

716

saw again that I wanted to do it all over,

because that level of support, during that

717

COVID period, was extremely tough for me.

718

I felt alone.

719

I've had other guests that we've even

talked about why that has occurred.

720

It's a mental energy.

721

It's a process in which you have

to change your brain patterns,

722

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.

725

It's about being curious of what you

want to work on that will ultimately

726

dictate how you want to best achieve it.

727

It's no coincidence of having

Katie to follow right after that.

728

She shares her perspective

of that curiosity.

729

How we can learn from others

through that curiosity.

730

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

732

moments, but if we can recognize the

kindness of helping others, being able

733

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

737

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

740

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

749

recently, what your sphere of influence

is, and who your inner circle is,

750

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

754

of influence, but that inner circle

are the people that are going to make

755

sure that hold you accountable to what

you're ultimately trying to achieve.

756

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

759

inner circle of people that are willing

to help get her to where she needs

760

to be, and be able to be successful.

761

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

763

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

768

shows her legitimacy, along with her

clientele and the people that she hires,

769

of why it's so important to not think

of this as a casual freelancer, but

770

somebody that you should take seriously.

771

I can take you seriously too if you're

willing to work on those skills, being

772

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

782

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.

796

Outro: Thanks for listening.

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See you next time.