016: “A jack of all trades isn’t a bad thing.” Encouraging a multi-passionate, virtual assistant career with Emily Reagan

Artwork for podcast Holding Down the Fort by US VetWealth

Episode 16 • 11th November 2019 • Holding Down the Fort by US VetWealth • Jen Amos

Jen Amos 0:00

There's no need to wait on your service member to share a second hand information anymore. Welcome to holding down the fort, a podcast show where we put military spouses and children's needs front and center so that they can make informed decisions together as a family. Because let's face it, we know who's really holding down the fort. Let's get started.

Speaker 1 0:35

Hey, everyone, John Amos here, your host for holding down the fort podcast show. And as always, I am excited because every time I get to do another episode, it means that I get to interview another amazing person in our military community. And so I'd like to introduce you to Emily Regan. Emily Regan is a mother of four and Air Force wife of 17 years, a digital marketing consultant and founder of VA crash course.com. Emily,

Jen Amos 1:05

welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 1:06

Hey, there. I'm so happy to be here.

Jen Amos 1:08

Yeah, it's our absolute pleasure to have you today. I know we already had a fun conversation before we went on live. And so I think we're going to have a pretty engaging and insightful conversation today.

Unknown Speaker 1:19

Yes, you bet.

Speaker 1 1:22

Well, why don't we start with you sharing Emily, how did you hear about the show? And more importantly, why did you decide to jump on and chat with me today?

Speaker 2 1:30

Well, to be honest, we found each other on Instagram. And I don't quite remember how it went down. But it was happening during a PCS. And I circled back to you. But I had started listening to your podcasts because as an Air Force wife, I'm always curious about the resources out there. And as a digital marketer, I love podcasts. So it was just a good fit. And I couldn't wait to share with our community some of the lessons and things I've learned working online with everybody out there.

Speaker 1 1:59

Yeah, absolutely. I was looking back to see like, when was the last time we spoke or when we found you on Instagram. And it was actually I don't know if you remember this. So I'm gonna I'm going to just going to jog your memories here. Okay. I was like, totally into stalking you, basically. So. So it was back in June. And at that time, your husband was back just for a couple of weeks from deployment, I believe. And you were re filming your virtual assistant course.

Speaker 2 2:28

Yes, I must have made a post about that or something, right?

Speaker 1 2:32

Yes, you did. Yes, you did. Yeah. So actually, it's funny that we talked about, we're talking about like, virtual VA course, because I actually have a virtual assistant as well. So in case anyone's wondering, VA doesn't mean Veteran Affairs, it means virtual assistants. And I have a virtual assistant that assist me with a lot of my social media, and, you know, doing outreach and engagement. I mean, I'm on there the majority of the time, but like she assisted me with, like just the little things that really help our online presence just look alive.

Speaker 2 3:03

Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. Because so many people online, pretend like they do it all. And the fact is, and what I teach is online business owners need help. And so any little thing she can fill in and help you with, I mean, I just assumed she was a woman. But yeah, I think that that's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. And you tell everyone what's going on behind the scenes.

Speaker 1 3:25

Yeah, I was just talking to my husband about this the other day, and I'm sure you can chime in on this as well. But I feel like when people pursue entrepreneurship, they have, they feel like they need to be like this super solopreneur. Like they have to feel like they need to do everything. They have to do the marketing, they have to do the sales, they have to do the service. And it's like, the more you can do the more admirable you are. The The truth is, that's so not true. And so I am not ashamed, or I'm not shy to say that everything that we're doing with holding down the floor and the business that I run with my husband, we it's not just us like we work with a team. In fact, we actually just hired a military spouse as well to help us with administrative assistants. Oh, good. Yeah. And so it's really cool, because she's super happy and excited about it. I want to give a shout out to Madison, if she's listening to this because she is a military spouse and she doesn't want to just be a stay at home mom, she wants to have work. And so we're just really happy to have her on board and have her help us on the back end of things. And he's actually Hawaii time. So she's like six hours behind us. But like it doesn't matter because the work that she's doing can kind of like transcend time.

Speaker 2 4:46

wner, you know that it's that: 8020

Speaker 1 5:43

Yeah, absolutely. I know, with my husband, Scott and our team, which is like, mainly, like veterans who are like big visionaries, but not necessarily implementers. No offense to my team, that's no offense, but maybe some events, I like to make fun of them, and they know it. But yeah, it's so important to have people such as myself and Madison and virtual assistants to kind of really be the puppet tears and run behind the scenes. And really, I just thought of like, I was literally thinking about I just like lost my train of thought on that. But I was trying to think of like, like, like a battery operated doll. And if you look at the this is like such a bad analogy now. Now I'm thinking about like a horror movie. And like, Chevy, yeah, yeah. I don't know this game up. But no, basically, it's kind of like, how do I describe it, it's like, you look at something that is mechanical, and like a car. So you look at a car. And a car is like pretty on the outside, and it runs. But it's because of every little piece and tool and thing inside of it. That makes that car look beautiful and run and operate. Right. And so that's, and so that's what virtual assistants do is they are really like the engine and all the little mechanics inside the car, so that you can drive smoothly and safely in your business. So I think that's a better analogy than

J.A. 7:07

Chucky and I love it. And I am pretty like intrigued to have this conversation with you. Because I love supporting virtual assistants and really just supporting people who work remotely because they have their reasons for working remotely. And they deserve to have work as well.

Speaker 2 7:25

And when I became a Air Force spouse 17 years ago, we didn't have this opportunity. It wasn't in such force that it is now and now. I just like to open people's eyes to it. Because no matter what your skill set is whether you're organized or creative, or you like math, there's something out there. I mean, there's jobs out there for the Excel sheet nerds. There's just so much opportunity. And you see these influencers and marketers online. I mean, look at that grandma on Instagram, do you know what I'm talking about? But no, I'm gonna have her now, her namesake. I'm probably gonna butcher how you say things, because that's what I do. But her name is baddie Winkle. And she is huge on Instagram, she has like almost 4 million followers, you know, she's not the one running that Instagram account, there is some digital marketing virtual assistant or team and doing that for her. She's just the face. And so I really like to give the kudos to the people who are doing the work the implementers. And you just need to know where to go, and what to look for and know what the keywords are the buzzwords to get hired. And you could just unlock this whole new career for yourself. When I was military spouse, our first assignment together was in Germany. And we had had a year apart our first year of marriage was a one year remote. And I grew up as a military kid too. So I'm used to moving around, I'm used to the changes. Does it make us make it easy, but it makes you be all those things you talked about in another episode, you know, flexible and resourceful. And I was so excited to be back with my husband and we get into Germany. And I remember one of the first things we had to do was go to the vet office. And I don't remember why. And I just saw all these young girls with big diamond rings on their fingers and working in the office and I wanted to cry. And I thought like, Why did I go to college? This is so stupid, because there's nothing wrong with that type of work. Yeah, I was so looking forward to this stage of my life and my 20s and I get there and I'm no longer I mean, I'm in Germany, so it's not going to be easy to get a job anyway. And I just wanted to cry, didn't want to get stuck. Just doing any kind of job and not doing what I'm good at my degree was in broadcasting and electronic media. But I think the jobs that I've had over the 17 years, they've been crazy and all over the place somehow. It's somewhat related. Barely, but I've managed to get by but I just remember thinking I do not want to work in the vet office. Yeah. So now you can take your skill online. So now, as I didn't even know I was called a VA at first I was just freelancing, my background was in public relations and marketing. And I was playing on Facebook and Pinterest are clients and they kept calling me their VA and like, Okay, what's that? But I mean, now for work, I get to do kind of a mix of everything I like. And I don't know if the military created this, like, ADHD person in me, but I just can't do the same thing over and over, I need variety. And my job now I get to go play on Instagram, I get to make graphics and memes or edit video or write landing pages and emails and nerd out on engagement rates. And I just love it. And I'm just so glad I never settled for that office. And I'm not saying I mean, I've had a ton of jobs that I settled. But in the end, I just always knew there was something else for me and I didn't give up.

: 10:50

Yeah, it's not like you went to school to work in the back office. Like that's, that's what you're saying? It's I didn't I was not expecting this. And no, there's nothing. There's nothing wrong with that job. Especially if you need it like some. Yeah, conversation in a previous interview of like, sometimes you're like, sometimes your passion may not be in your job, your job may find your passion. And that's yes. But yeah, just like what you're saying. It's not like you spent you went to school for that to work in an office in that way. And what have you. So yeah, I totally get what you're saying.

: 11:24

What's funny is I ended up bartending at Chili's. There was a big hiring freeze. And I saw I don't mean that judgey at all. I just remember like, wow, I hadn't really thought of that next step. Now that we're married, we're finally together. And I pursued me. I didn't know what to do. And Chili's was opening up and Ramstein. There you go.

: 11:50

Oh, man, I really want to I want to ask because I feel like you're really a seasoned military spouse. And my ears kind of perked. When you mentioned like back in the day, none of this was available. So I'm just curious, when did you start to discover that virtual assistant services started to become a thing or become available or working remotely? Like what when did you start to discover that?

: 12:17

That's kind of a long question. So I took my first freelance client. When I quit my full time job, I had my dream job, that we were moving every one to two years, and I finally got my dream job. And then we had to move. I think I had that job for less than 18 months. And somebody was like, Hey, do you even before I put in my resignation letter, I mean, I was sitting on the fact that we are PCs and not saying anything to anybody. But somebody was like, Hey, will you help me with my Facebook? And I just said, Yeah, I wasn't even really thinking about it. And in my head, I'm like, how is that gonna work? I mean, my backgrounds in media, I have relationships with the media in Oklahoma City, how is that going to work when I live in Virginia, and I, you know, I made it work, I figured it out. And it just kind of stumbled into more over the years, like, I didn't really know what I was doing with that client, I'll be honest. But they weren't paying me a lot. But it made me it made me feel good, and stay engaged. And then maybe about six years ago, I really started to see this opportunity as more online, entrepreneurs are trying to grow. They're trying to grow by selling physical products. They're trying to grow with their digital products, you see a lot of like E courses and ebooks and things. And then you also see a lot of influencers. And as that happened, I got in with one good client, and it just took off. And I kept running into all these business owners who were like, oh, you know how to help me get found on Google? Can I hire you? And I thought, no, I'm too full. I have four kids, my husband's never here. So I just saw this opportunity. And then I looked around me and I saw these smart friends of mine, the over educated, underemployed military spouses. I mean, that's the world I live in. Especially when we were down in Miami, it was really hard for a lot of girls to get jobs. And I just said, hey, hey, you, I think you can learn this, you have an engineering degree clear. And I just started picking up friends and getting I got some on my team, I started growing my team. And then finally, I mean, I'm getting inundated with business owners who need help. And it's not that they can't do it, like we talked about, it's just that it's too much to do. So they like the military wife, because we're honest, we're reliable, and we're pretty smart. We think on our toes and figure things out and adapt really well. And it's really amazing how those fundamental traits are, what get you hired, it's not what you know, or what you've learned. All of that can be taught. It's that basic. I don't know that basic personality that we have when we move around a lot. So I feel like I just went off on a really big tangent err, I hope I answered your question.

: 15:02

Oh, no, you totally did. I was just thinking part of why we hired like, I have a virtual assistant. And then now we have Madison as our admin assistant. And the thing is, I think in general, I probably could have hired people who were maybe more experienced in the world of virtual assistants or what have you. But it's something about the two of them that really stood out to me. And so Madison, if you're listening to those, this is probably why I hired you. But it's like that drive. They Yeah, like, I feel like they have this drive and this eagerness, and they just want to be given a chance to succeed. Because just like what you said, it's so difficult to find a job. And even if you do, you're going to end up PCs. And anyway. And so they just like they have the skill set, they're highly educated, they just need something that accommodates their lifestyle. And so that's what stood out to me. And like why, like, even if I didn't know if, if they were, like really talented in it or not, because a lot of things that I delegate anyway, I can just teach it on the job. You know, it's it's pretty easy. But yeah, it's something about that drive and that eagerness and that that sense of loyalty that really drew drew me or draw me to certain people that make me want to work with them, because I feel like that will last longer than someone who's just a virtual assistant, maybe just looking for another client to add to their portfolio. Right.

: 16:24

What other another paycheck? I think one of the words, I heard this recently is hungry, somebody who's hungry, and you just can't teach that you someone either has it? Or they don't. And I have found out that I do have it. I mean, I'm just driven to do more. I mean, I could just be happy with my clients and doing my billable hours. But I'm like, No, Emily, I gotta do more. I'm going to teach people how to do this. And I'm like, I must be crazy, but I can't explain it. It's just, it's just in there.

: 16:58

And, you know, I, I was a military child, myself, and I can relate to you in terms of like, how many things you like to juggle. And no before Before I used to feel guilty about that. I don't know what it was. But I was like, told somewhere. I don't know who exactly, but I just had this feeling like culturally that you're supposed to be good at one thing and stick with one thing. But actually, and just the recent, like two years since my life has dramatically changed, where I just embrace the fact that I like juggling a lot of projects, because it keeps my mind fresh. And I really get to explore my creativity. And it makes me more what do you call it like just more focused, when I are inspired when I do work on a certain project and I don't get sick of my projects because I get to switch it up.

: 17:50

There's some smart business word for that when you have a lot on your plate and you're just more purposeful and driven and intentional, and you get things done. Whereas when you have nothing. You don't even get that one thing done. And I mean, I can even remember this when for 10 months, I didn't have a job. And my husband was at Quantico and I just sat around in my pajamas, okay, I didn't just sit around, I did do some other things. But in my head, I just thought oh, I have all day to do this. It wasn't me. But now people are like, how do you do it all? Like, well, first of all, girl I don't want my house is a mess. I don't always cook dinner. But it's because that's how I operate. I'm like that deadline girl and I like to have some other purpose. I don't get satisfaction out of cleaning a bathtub. I like deadlines. I like producing tangible results. I like writing. I mean, the feeling you get when you hit publish on your podcast. That lights me on fire?

: 18:47

Yeah, just does. I love it. I'm a dork. I feel like the the best way I can describe, I think what we have in common in terms of doing a lot of things at once is a eclectic. I think that's a positive word. Yeah, not not scatterbrains or

: 19:07

no, because it's not scatterbrain because we follow through. But I don't know about you. But I've been hearing a lot of podcasts about Don't be the jack of all trades, or articles too. Don't be the jack of all trades be good at one thing, do your one niche. And that's just not me. And you mentioned that I have a virtual Crash Course. And so I'm kind of doing things a little bit different with that I'm teaching what I call the unicorn virtual assistant, the virtual assistant who is willing to take on all of it. And that's kind of a little bit backwards from the industry. But I'm teaching the girls how to do Pinterest how to do affiliate marketing, how to do emails, how to do search engine optimization. So this is really the person who is more into the creative and the digital marketing. But if you look around, there's people who just spent specialize in that one thing and I feel like that would be smart for me Need to do but that's not true to me. I just know business owners want that person who can step up and help them at a certain level. If you get to a higher level, you're going to work on one thing for your client or your business owner because you're going to be a part of a team. And they'll need just an Instagram girl, or just a graphic designer, but at this lower level, where we're helping out smaller business owners and entrepreneurs, they just want to go getter. So that's why I call it the unicorn ba but we could also call it the scatterbrained, eclectic, jack of all trades.

Jen Amos: 20:33

Yeah, I love that. Hey, everyone, John Amos here, just taking a quick break from the interview to talk to you about our main sponsor for holding down the fort. Just this last September of 2019. US vet wealth, and my husband, Scott R. Tucker, has been featured on military families.com. I just want to read the first part of it to give you an idea of what we're about and what we represent. So this article is actually written about the founder, which is my husband, the founder of us bet wealth has an approach to veteran employment that looks like jeans and flip flops. Among a crowd of suits. Scott had found that is what allows veterans to embark on a successful path to civilian retirement. Retired Army Major Scott Tucker, also West Point grad, spent upwards of seven years after his military career, learning the finance industry, listening to veterans woes, and being told there's only one mold, one path for the veteran workforce. Through that he learned the one thing everyone was missing. There's another way Scott gets quoted, if you have a mission to serve, whether that's individually or meaning a transitioning service member or spouse wants to go and create their own mission. That is what us that wealth is about is by helping our military families and service members live a life of intention through us but wealth Scott and his team, myself included mentor veterans, and military spouses who don't want to be a defense consultant, or play by a corporation's roles. US bet wealth is for people that want total control of what they do, and how they go on about it. If that sounds like you, check out us bet wealth.com To learn more about us. All right, let's get back into the interview.

: 22:31

Just kind of going back to what I was saying earlier, I think the reason why I feel like our culture just kind of conditions us to value being good at one thing is you also have to think about like our educational system, like if you go to higher education, you do start off with like Gen Ed but eventually you have to hone in on a certain major. And then even when you pick your major you have to you can pick an emphasis on it. And then the higher up you go and education, like when you do a PhD, you're supposed to do a thesis on one specific thing. And so I feel like that's what life is trying to teach you or at least the school system is teaching you to hone in on on one thing. But when you get out, the workforce is not like that, like I know plenty of people who have to take freelancing things or side hustles or a second job. And it is kind of odd that culturally we value being good at one thing because just like you, I'm just sick of that. I've I finally got to a place where I was like, you know, I don't have to be good at one thing. Like, and I don't even think a jack of all trades is a bad thing. I think that we're more skillful than what society and culture says. Or says that we should be. I even think about like my favorite artists or singers. And they're not just singers, they're actors, or they do like stand up comedy, or they have other side projects, or they they're business owners, you think of like athletes who became business owners or started nonprofits. It's just I don't know what it I don't know what it is Emily, like whoever said that we have to do one thing. I don't have a polite way of saying this. But like, go for it. But, but screw you.

: 24:21

And we have your sound bite for the promotion of this podcast. No, it's not real life. It's totally not real life. And it's okay to be multi passionate. It's part of who we are. And even as a military spouse, we can't just be a military spouse. Like that's just shooting yourself in the foot with that there's so much more to life. There's life after the military. We don't want to define ourselves by just that. And same with stay at home moms and look at the empty nesters like we got to work on us and do what makes us happy and just not pay attention to the other people. So I think yeah, I love that this podcast is going off on a little bit of a tangent, but I think it's Perfect, because ultimately, that's what I like to encourage and like, learn the basics of what's out there and then go, like, pick your thing and do what you want. Like, just be you.

: 25:10

Yes. I feel like this interview has become a like a motivational talk for anyone.

: 25:17

So not me. I'm so not a cheerleader type. But I find myself just wanting to shake people. I'm like, you could do this. Like, yeah, like you were so good at this. Why are you offering this online and doing it online? Like you don't have to work at JC Penney, the next assignment unless you want to. But, yeah.

: 25:38

Let's talk about some of the fun things you're working on today. One thing that I love about your website, Emily is like you just straight up, say, like, I don't have enough time to work on these clients, I need people to help me. And so you've created this course, to empower other people who want who aspired to become a virtual assistant, to get the skills and learn how to do it, and how to market themselves. And so I'd love to, I know, we basically talked about this throughout this entire interview already. But I'd love for you to kind of share what your life looks like today and more about what keeps you busy and excited?

: 26:13

Well, life is totally different now that I have daycare. Because I have I have four kids. And I just put my youngest one in daycare when she was one. So she has been in daycare for about a year and a half. And I kind of told myself as my clients were flocking in, I'm like, I'm just gonna wait till she's in kindergarten and stay home and raise my kids. And then finally, I thought, Emily, like this is the time like right now it's the time you can see virtual assistant websites popping up, you know, virtual workforce websites popping up, like people are hungry for this. Some people don't even know about it. Like you've got to go all in and it makes me happy. I like I said, I like kind of the variety of my work. And I like the variety of clients. And so now that I have daycare, I can get so much more done. I'm also a lot happier in my business because I got a housekeeper. I stopped I stopped doing the housework. I mean, not all of it. I mean, come on, I have four kids, but stuff like that. So I could really just take my business seriously. And I was already training some girls on my team to know everything in my brain. And I thought, Man, I'm helping my clients scale, go online offer their consulting and their talents online through courses and membership sites. And Mike, why don't I do that. So I've launched my course twice now to a very small group, but the girls who do it and who so far, it's been all girls, but the girls who do it and do the course, they're all booked out. Like they all have their own clients. And it makes me so happy. I've just heard such good things. I mean, I have quite a few of them are my friends or acquaintances from other bases. But I mean, I have engineers working for me, I have not for me with me, I'm kind of mentoring. I have OBGYN nurse, I have a girl who is bilingual, and works in rental property management. So I think I just hooked up with a job with a realtor. So I don't know, it just makes me really happy. So day to day, I'll do a little mix of client work. I've been working on my course to launch it. And I'm doing the whole Amy Porterfield thing, right launch with a webinar and do all of that I have a free Facebook group where I go in and I kind of teach ideas and things. And so I'm just trying to build my email list and my following. And it kind of feels a little bit weird because I'm used to the girl being behind the scenes. I'm used to telling my clients what to do, then, now I have to put my face out there as it feels like a little weird, but I know it's worth it. Especially when I see my friends who are like, man, one girl, she was like, super depressed. And she's like, I'm just so happy that now I have a job. And it's just a couple of hours a day, but it's what she wants out of it and gets her kind of out of her kids world for a few hours. And she's amazing. Like she's just picked it up and ran and she's gonna do really great things I can just tell. So I feel like I'm just blabbing. But every day is different. And I have the ability to stay home with a kid if they're sick. I have the ability to go to the dentist if I need to. I don't stress the vacation, the vacation time. I don't know about you, but every time I started a new job, wherever we moved, I'm like, Oh, I only get seven days of leave. How's that gonna work? My husband gets 30 so I don't have to worry about any of that. And my kids head off school Friday, so we went downtown DC to check out a museum and it was a little bit of a disaster but um, they liked the metro. I'm glad we did it. I'm glad we did it. I was a good mom and oh my gosh. Yeah, so that's my day. I couldn't even tell you how does everyday but I just I feel just work as I've been working seriously for the last 16 yours I just have so much more confidence, so much more independence, knowing I'm making my own money. I mean, I have a new passion and purpose where as before, I'm not a Pollyanna, but I was following my husband around. And I'm happy, I'm happy to do it. I love traveling and exploring, but it just feels like I got a little piece of me back through all of this work stuff.

: 30:23

Yeah, one thing that stood out to me in in just you talking is that, I think for a lot of military spouses, they initially feel stuck, they feel limited. And from what you're sharing, to me, it just sounds like you found freedom in your lifestyle, you were able to create a business for yourself. And not not just you, but you brought on other people with you, and you're mentoring people. And now you're in a position where you have daycare, you have a housekeeper, you have me time and and I just I just want to applaud you, Emily, for what you've built for yourself and what you're building for other people. I am curious, you did mention you did also say that you've never felt like more confident now than you have before. And so I'm just curious, what, when did you find like that confidence to just to just do all of this?

: 31:20

You know, it never really disappeared on me. But I think that it just got tucked away raising children? And I don't know, that's a really good question. And I want to backtrack for a second you saying freedom was spot on, I should hire you for my marketing, because that is the word is freedom. And it's balance. And I love that. So I just wrote that down. I'm gonna run with that. But this is really

: 31:46

this is really like a brain marketing brand from passion for each other.

: 31:50

Yeah, I don't know. I think I just didn't have I've always had the drive. But well, first of all, there's the confidence of look, am I even hireable? Look at my resume. It's got huge gaps, you can tell I'm military, when you look at it, no one will ever want to hire me. Never make the same salary. That people my peer level now. I mean, they all have Cush, PR jobs and energy companies and hospitals. And like I'm like, stuck at 40 grand every time I got a new job, I never broke that cap. So some of that just kind of mess with my confidence. Not that my wrapped up in what I do. Like, I know that's not the truth. But there's something to be said, where knowing like, I could walk into the world and walk into the interview room and be like, You should hire me. No interviews over like I know. I mean, I'm really not, I'm not a cocky person. But what I have done to brush up my skill set and get relevant and get up to date with the online world and the PR world and marketing world is like, it's just something that's never gonna go away. I mean, it's only going to build on what we know. And I know your backgrounds in this too. I mean, there's going to be more tech to learn and new things. But the basics of what we do online is there forever. So it just made me feel really good. So I think that that was a good Kickstarter. For me, there wasn't just one moment because I've been doing this in the background, but just seeing how many people I could help with just felt it just felt so good. The on the business owner side and the people the VA side, like helping them connect just made me feel good. And it just made me want to do it again. And again.

: 33:26

I heard this that like years ago, and I'm sure it's changed since then. But I heard somewhere that it's really only a third of the world that has access to the internet. And it's just going to keep growing from there. And so for anyone that is considering of working remote job or creating your own remote opportunities to know that it's not too late, it's really the start of it. And just like what Emily said, you don't just have to do admin work, you don't just have to do marketing, there's just so many different ways to work remotely. And the time is now just like what you said earlier, like the time is now to do it. There's no better time now where people value marketing and I also think it's because businesses are getting smaller, or there's just more people getting into business for themselves, that they have this amazing skill set or service or product and they are in dire need of marketing or having that extra help. And so yeah, I mean there's no better time than today to pursue virtual assistants and working remotely. Yeah,

: 34:34

thank you for the plug because I just agree if you if I had some smart stats for you right now, I mean we know we know social shopping is on the rise and E commerce is on the rise and it's just it's a no brainer if it interests you it's a no brainer to go for it to try Yeah.

: 34:49

So I want to get to for people that are like oh my gosh, this episode has pumped me up. I'm so down and through this I want to do this Emily Do you have some tips on how people can get started even to just, I don't know, just find it.

: 35:06

I do I do. There's a lot out there. And I don't want to overwhelm with information right now. But the first thing that you can do is learn. And this is going to sound so cliche, but you do you need to dust up your resume your skill set, make it right for this digital age, like learn what the new words are, and the new marketing strategies and what business owners are trying to do online, learn like the big picture, and then learn your little area. Like, for me, for example, my background was in PR, which is kind of changed a lot since we sent out and mailed out press kits. It's all online now. So what I would do is find out how you make the online press kits and and how you speak to the media online. Obviously, Instagram and DMS and Twitter are a new way of contacting the media. So just get spun up on what's new, and you're not going to get anywhere. If you just sit around and do nothing, you've got to learn it. And you know what, Google YouTube, everything's out there for free. Like, there's no excuses, find a mentor, find a Facebook group, find a course, take a course invest in yourself. And that's how you're really going to learn and get up to date and get, what's the word I'm looking for, like competitive with other people who are out there. And you're really gonna have to put your self out there, you're gonna have to try and it feels scary if you haven't been working for a while, or if it's a little bit of a new territory. But you just have to recognize that everything's always changing anyway, like, don't even look to the left or right, you just, what am I trying to say here? Like, you're not going to get it if you don't put yourself out there and ask, and really marketing 101 Tell people what you're doing, I find that most of my VAs get jobs within their own inner circle. So if you tell someone like, look, I'm helping local businesses with their Instagram, you will be surprised how many people will offer up a contact that they already know needs help, like people are looking for this. And it's so cliche I hate saying that. But it's it's so true, it's probably way easy to start with businesses that are local, that you can meet face to face. I just know a lot of times when I'm chatting to people about what I do, all I have to do is say Google and search words and people are like you're hired. And I mean, like literally, I have a really dumb story for you. I was doing that body fat testing, where you go in a tank and you dunk yourself and see how much weight I gained this one year deployment and, and I was I was doing it for fun. The guy gave military discounts. And I'm no body builder. And I was way, way too high percentage so that I don't want to share but I was chatting with them. And he owns this little tank and around Miami don't think people water and measuring their body fat. And I'm like, Dude, you should, you shouldn't do better on Instagram. Kind of scary, like I get in a swimsuit. And I get in your trailer and I jump in water. Like let's let me help you. And I just couldn't help but like giving him ideas. And next thing I know, he was like, I want to hire you. And it's just 60 Plus guy who just wants to help people like get healthier. It wasn't anything shady, but I had the opportunity. I just jumped on him as a client to my neighbor. So key lime pies. And Mike oh, gosh, I'm like your pictures are terrible. I don't say it like this. I'm giving you like the the Emily thoughts like your patches are terrible. Like, let me help you with your Instagram because her pies are so good. Like, let's help people get into your store. I mean, it's so much easier to start locally because people see you and trust you. And then you can work on your branding online, which we know is a lot harder. The know like and trust factor and all of that. So really, my best lesson is just to go for it. Like your husband says just do it.

: 38:54

I love it. Yeah. So listeners if the pep talk didn't help, or the advice that Emily just gave didn't help, then I don't know how to help you. Know, I'm just getting I'm just getting I was getting no i Emily, I I think we had just such an awesome conversation today talking about your story and how you really stumbled into this life and have embraced it and not just for yourself but for other people. And I hope that our listeners can be inspired by this conversation and take action. Actually, wait, there was one more thing I wanted to add. I think in general, most people are afraid of putting themselves out there. But when you realize that everyone else is kind of in the same boat. It's it's not that scary. And you have to think of it this way. I heard a quote somewhere where it said like the only reason why someone else got your opportunity is because you didn't think you were deserving of it. It's not about you. It's not about if you think you're deserving or not. It's that the opposite Unity is there, and you can take it and you should take it. And to just understand that, like, yeah, take a chance. Because if you think of any time in your life where you did take a chance, and it was it was fruitful, and it really benefited you. Just remember, like, on the other side, you're going to get something good out of putting yourself out there. I think you almost always do when you do that. So. So yeah, put yourself out there and, and just do it.

: 40:28

I think people have a fear of rejection. And when you really think about it, deep down, I mean, it's that fear of judgment, but, but if you're going to be a military spouse, if you're going to be moving, if you're going to be uncertain of where you're living in 20 years or less, do something for you look out for yourself. And just, I mean, make make the move, because you're not going to have any, there's no regrets here, you have nothing to lose if you could work online, like so when somebody doesn't hire you. You might as well try it. Now. Don't jump out of the gates pretending like you're a social media guru. Be honest about who you are, and what you know, and what you want to help with. But there should be nothing holding you back here like now, like you said, Now is the time like, go for it.

: 41:13

Yes, absolutely. Well, on that note, Emily, I think that is a great way to close out our show. For people that are interested in learning more about you and the awesome work that you're doing, really creating abundance for yourself and abundance for other people, which I am in awe of, and applaud you for doing, how can people get a hold of you?

: 41:36

Well, I am on all of the social media except Twitter. The best resource for you is to go to Facebook, look me up. I'm Emily Regan, digital media consulting, Emily Regan, PR, I have a free Facebook group where I kind of teach different ways to start online and get some tips like go ahead and request to join, you'll get some good info there. I have a couple of videos and other resources, I bring other people in an interview them and talk about their jobs, and just to kind of give you good ideas. So I think that's the best place to start. And then you start learning from there. Like I said,

: 42:14

Awesome, I love it. For our listeners, if you did not catch that the first time or you don't know how to look that up. Don't worry, I am always generous with my show notes. It'll all be included in there. And you will be able to get a hold of Emily. So Emily, thank you again so much for your time and sharing your story and pep talks and talking about other analogies like puppets and cars

Unknown Speaker: 42:37

and awful, I had an awful way of explaining that. But it's okay.

: 42:46

It's hard to come up with analogies on the fly. My husband and all of our colleagues are really good at doing it. And so I'm trying to like, try to like just put myself out there and test it out. And it didn't work that time.

Unknown Speaker: 42:59

For a good laugh, so entertainments good.

: 43:01

Yeah, exactly. All right, listeners. Hopefully we gave you the tools and education and resources so that you can continue to hold down the fort for you and your family. Emily,

Jen Amos: 43:12

I want to thank you so much again for being on our show and our listeners for listening in. And we look forward to speaking with you in the next episode. Tune in next time.

Unknown Speaker: 43:20

Thanks, guys.

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