Episode 24
Show Notes:
Are you a busy professional or business owner needing help here and there for some of your projects or tasks? Today’s guest is Tyreeen Taylor who owns Wise Walk Virtual Solutions. Her company provides solutions to help manage big or small tasks by matching an EA (Exec Asst.) or a VA (Virtual Asst.) to you!
Find out how to get matched so you can enjoy some time or freedom in your day, and listen how to become a VA signing on with her or if you are looking for help to manage your daily tasks.
Transcript
[Music intro]
The 8th Level Podcast is about being self-employed, entrepreneurship, and managing our online business. It’s also about connecting to our souls, having the right mindset, and self-care. My name is Lourdes, and I am the host of this show. Thank you for listening to this episode today!
Hey business owners! Or, if you’re a busy professional, my guest today is Tyreen Taylor. Tyreen is the owner of Wise Walk Virtual Solutions, and the company matches a virtual assistant or an executive assistant to assist you with your daily tasks and other technology support needs!
Lourdes: And welcome Tyreen! How are you today?
Tyreen: I’m great, thank you so much for having me!
Lourdes: Absolutely, I love having you here! And so, with Wise Walk Virtual Solutions, tell me, what made you decide to do that business?
Tyreen: I always tell people, I was kind of forced into it. I was working in the federal government, and then I had a medical injury and I had to resign from the government. So I had to do something from home to make some type of income, and it ended up developing into this business.
Lourdes: Ok, and tell me about your business. What do you actually do in that business?
Tyreen: So, we match business owners and executives with qualified virtual executive assistants.
Lourdes: Oh, that’s kinda cool! So, who is your ideal client to match them with?
Tyreen: Oh, great question. It’s funny cause I just wrote this out in my manifest journal the other day. So, our ideal client, one, is either a business owner or executive that needs help. They need administrative support and they’re ready for the help, I think that’s the biggest part. It’s sometimes we need help, but we’re not quite ready to receive the help. So anyone that is open to having assistants and that is able to delegate tasks would be our ideal client.
Lourdes: Oh, that’s interesting! So, you think some people are not ready to hire extra help.
Tyreen: Yes!
Lourdes: How would a person or a business owner know this?
Tyreen: So honestly, you can find out when you’re actually in the situation. Which y’know, isn’t good, but I’ve learned from doing this for a little bit that you can kinda tell when you ask a person “what do you need help with?” And then they can list everything, and then if you ask them “okay, give me three projects you want your virtual assistant to start working on if they started with you tomorrow.” And then typically, if they’re not ready they’ll kind of freeze up here and then they may say a long long list, or they may honestly say “I’m not sure exactly what I need help with.” Cause sometimes, we need so much help, we don’t know where to start, and then it makes it difficult to delegate things to your virtual assistant.
Lourdes: Oh that is so true! As a business owner, you do everything right? You’re doing the marketing and creating anything for your business, and yeah, where do you start? So, when you come across these types of prospects, and it sounds like you’re qualifying them, are you qualifying them?
Tyreen: Yes, definitely. In the beginning, I think like most businesses, I kinda had just the open door where if you wanna sign up, you can. But after doing it for a while, I realized if the client isn’t really ready to make this, cause this is a big step and it’s a big investment, but if the client isn’t fully ready, what will happen is they will start and then they’ll end up backing out within a month. Which makes everything that we did with the matching process and having the VA actually start with them, all of that just goes to waste.
Lourdes: Yeah, I can see that. And if they’re not ready, what do you do? Do you tell them how to get ready, or do you just say hey, you’re not ready, come back another time?
Tyreen: No, I definitely, if they’re open to it, I have had clients in the past where I literally will give them different worksheets where they can work out on paper exactly what they need help with. So I typically start with, hey, let’s list all of your pain points. And then another way is, I always ask people at the end of the day, when you look at your task list or your to-do list, what are those items that’re always lingering onto the next day? So then it’d be something small like a newsletter you need to send out, or e-mail you need to send. Those are things you can delegate to your virtual assistant.
Lourdes: Oh, ok! So you help them with that. Now, I also heard you say something about a manifesting journal, can you tell me what that is?
Tyreen: Yes! So, I have just gotten into that kinda, y’know, that world. Because, I believe so much in it now, where if you really try to manifest things, it’s meant to be. I believe it has to be God’s will. If it’s not, then it’s still not gonna happen no matter how much you manifest it. But, I’m really into meditation now, and different things like that. And, it’s amazing when you really manifest something, and it’s meant to be, things just start working out. So I made this journal – Well, I didn’t make it, but I bought a journal that I use just for manifesting. So I’ll just write anything that comes to mind, anything that I hope will come true, I put in this special journal.
Lourdes: Oh, and… First of all, tell me, how did you find out about this manifesting thing going on? Is it a group, or how did you find out about it?
Tyreen: A friend of mine started talking about it, and I’m like, ok, what is this, and then I started doing research. I looked on YouTube and saw different YouTubers, and I’m like wow this is really cool, let me try! And then I started falling asleep to the manifest meditation at nighttime, and that was a part of my whole daily schedule.
Lourdes: Nice! And how long ago did you start this?
Tyreen: Honestly like February, I’m new. Just a few months ago.
Lourdes: And is it working out so far?
Tyreen: Yes! It’s amazing! I’m telling everyone that I know, I’m like hey, you need to do it!
Lourdes: Ok, so maybe you can share with us how we need to do this. And is that something you can share with our listeners? Where do they start to do this manifesting journal and manifesting? And quickly too, is it a part of the law of attraction?
Tyreen: So, I am a newbie, so I’ll just tell you what I knew. I don’t know if it’s accurate or not. [Laughs]
Lourdes: Mhm, sure!
Tyreen: But, what I do is, I try and do it every day, if not daily, for sure Monday through Friday. So I’ll just get my journal, and I’ll just go to YouTube and I’ll just type in “manifest meditation.” And then whatever I wanna manifest, they have so many different ones on YouTube. So if it’s business, you can just type “manifest meditation business” or relationships or whatever it is you want it to be. And then, a lot of them are guided meditations, so they’ll speak things and you just repeat after them. And then that’s when I just go ahead and write whatever comes to mind. So, one of the things I’m manifesting is new clients and different business ideas to grow my business. So I’ll write a lot about that. And then I’ll just go back to it occasionally and read it, and that’s honestly how I do it. I don’t have like a special, y’know, anything special, other than just writing it down and just really meditating on it and just believing that it will happen.
Lourdes: Good. Is there a certain person or a specific YouTube that you subscribe to that you follow?
Tyreen: No. Honestly, I will literally just type in whatever I’m trying to manifest, and I honestly look at who has the most views and then I’m like ok, that’s a good one. They have 2 million, I’ll try this one.
Lourdes: Yeah, that’s a good one. Ok, that’s pretty cool! So, with the business, how do you find the VAs to help you with?
Tyreen: So, y’know it’s really amazing. Because now, where we are now in our world, it’s hard to find good people to join your team, and I’ve honestly been blessed to have really good amazing EAs and VAs. So typically, I just go on the normal job boards, Indeed, LinkedIn, different things like that, and I do a really good behind-the-scenes type of thing. So I make the application process really lengthy, so that way if they’re not serious, they won’t even apply because it asks for a lot. It’s very detailed, each question you have to answer within like a paragraph form, so that’s how I kinda weed out some of the people that may not be serious.
Lourdes: Yeah. So you said EA, which is an executive assistant, and then a VA, which is a virtual assistant. So with the executive assistant, is it just the admin stuff?
Tyreen: Yes, yup! So with the executive assistant, it’s moreso they are supporting a C-level exeucitve. So some of their tasks would involve actually being inside the exec’s inbox, making sure he or she isn’t missing any important e-mails, making sure that their calendars stay up to date, maybe attending and hosting Zoom meetings on the client’s behalf, so it’s more, you’re kinda more in the scenes with the executive role. Versus the VA, it’s more social media management, you may be doing some customer service for your client. So it’s kinda two different worlds.
Lourdes: Ok. And, the virtual assistant one, what do they actually do?
Tyreen: So that one is the more like social media management. And they support the solo entrepreneur, the small business owner. So it’s more… It’s still administration, but it’s less of actually being involved in the team per se. Like with the execs, as the EA, you may have to join team meetings, even though you’re virtual. With the VA, it’s more, you’ll get a task list probably at the beginning of the week, you’ll knock it out, you’ll check in with your client. And that could be little things like social media, creating content, that’s a big one. Cause solo entrepreneurs, they don’t have time to sit and create a month’s worth of content for social media. So your VA can do things like that. They can handle customer service calls. A lot of the VAs do sales calls, like cold calling, trying to get the entrepreneur or their client more business. So, it’d be more along those lines.
Lourdes: Ok. And, I know you said you had lengthy application process, do you still have to vet these VAs and EAs, and how do you know if they have the skill set?
Tyreen: Yes yes, good question! So one, within the job application, it asks a lot of questions that if you’ve never been an EA or VA, you won’t know the answers to. That’s one. And then two, which is kinda similar to any job, you kinda have to go off of what they say in the interview. And then, what I do if I’m on the fence and I don’t know for sure if the person has the experience, I’ll have them do a trial day where they support a client that I’m very familiar with, and I’ll get feedback from that client. And they’ll actually produce some work, so I can make sure that hey y’know, you do have the skills and experience that you say you have.
Lourdes: Interesting! So, lemme ask you, how did you come up with this business model? Do you have a coach or somebody that helped guide you through this process of processing, looking for VAs and EAs, and coming up with all those questions?
Tyreen: No. So, I do have a business coach, but she didn’t necessarily help me with it. I kinda just did it from scratch because I started off as a VA myself, and an EA. So I know the behind-the-scenes. I know what a client is expecting, and I know what I’m supposed to know as the actual EA. So I just did the questions based off of experience.
Lourdes: I knew it! I knew you were a VA! That was my question, I was gonna ask you that. Because you have to kinda know behind the scenes, what it’s like to work remotely right?
Tyreen: Yes, yes.
Lourdes: Yeah, there’s so many people that have never worked remotely, and then they’re signing up as VAs or EAs and then they miss a deadline or something. Or they don’t even, what do you do? Have you ever found anybody like that that missed deadlines?
Tyreen: Not necessarily missed deadlines, but I have had just a few where it just, it wasn’t clicking. But the good thing about us at Wise Walk, we do quality assurance. So we check in with the client bi-weekly for the first 90 days, because we want to make sure that this is a good match for the client. And then we check in with our VAs and EAs weekly to make sure they’re feeling comfortable, they don’t need any assistance. If they need any trainings, we’re here to provide those trainings for them. So we stay in a loop to make sure that if there are any balls being dropped, we step in immediately and go ahead and talk to the VA or EA and just say he, what’s going on here, and we just guide them. And then typically, it works out. But sometimes, we may just have to rematch the client with another EA if that happens.
Lourdes: Ok. So have you ever had to let a VA or an EA go?
Tyreen: I have, yes. Only one, I’m happy to say only one. And it was due to personal things. She just had some personal issues going on, and she just couldn’t fully give her full self to the client, so.
Lourdes: And speaking of clients, have you ever had difficult clients that you work with?
Tyreen: Yes ma’am, and that is one of the reasons why I wrote down in my manifest journal the ideal client. Because, y’know, it can get difficult. We’re in a people’s business. Y’know, any type of service-based business has its ups and downs, but for the most part I’m very very grateful that all of our clients are awesome, and that one difficult client that I did have is no longer with us. Because it just wasn’t a good fit. Sometimes, it takes experience to realize is it the VA that is maybe the issue, or is it us, or is it the client?
Lourdes: True. And, how did you have to let that client go?
Tyreen: It was mutual. Like I said, we’re really involved in this whole process. So doing one of those bi-weekly check-ins, we just had an honest conversation. Like, hey, you’re not really giving your VA any work, but you expect her to do different things, but you aren’t communicating those things with her. And then we offer training to the clients’ too. Like you and I touched on in the beginning of the call, which is, if you’re having trouble delegating, we can help you. But if you’re not willing to accept the help, then we’re kinda at a dead-end. And he understood, and it was a mutual clean cut separation.
Lourdes: Ok. And then when you find EAs and VAs, do they have to pay a membership fee or anything like that to be on your team?
Tyreen: No, no! So, we love all of our team members. They do not have to pay anything. This is really just a community, honestly, to support them. Because many of our VAs and EAs, they have their own VA business, and they’re with us just so they can supplement their income because y’know, maybe they don’t have enough clients. So we support it. So if you have your own business and you’re trying to grow, we’re here honestly to help. Not only the client, but to give the EA or VA a really nice work environment where they feel supported and valued.
Lourdes: Ok. So, I’m asking, do you have VAs and VAs globally?
Tyreen: Nah, I wouldn’t say globally. Yet. Although, I just got an application from someone, I wanna say she was located in Kenya? But right now, all of our staff are located within the United States. And that’s honestly how I will most likely keep it. Because I always tell clients when they come to us, most of the times I don’t have to sell it, because when they come they need the help, but I always like to give the difference between coming with us versus going to Fiver or Upwork. Y’know, you can get you someone off of there, but are they gonna be based in the United States? The question is, y’know you never know. So I do like the fact that our staff, we’re all based in the United States.
Lourdes: Oh, good. And, you mentioned how you got or find new EAs and VAs through a lengthy application process. How do you attract prospects or clients?
Tyreen: That is a good question. So, I’m actually trying to figure that out, to be honest. Because, all of our clients so far have come from word of mouth from our recent clients. So we have not done any paid marketing. We post on LinkedIn and the different social medias and things like that, just to keep everyone updated. But we don’t honestly post to attract clients. So that is something that I’m working on, because we are open to new clients. I’m just trying to figure out what is the best way to market to our ideal client.
Lourdes: Hm, ok. So, how do you manage your clients?
Tyreen: Meaning?
Lourdes: So let’s say you have 10 clients and 10 VAs. How do you manage all that?
Tyreen: So we have an admin team. So it’s not just me, thankfully. We do have a chief operating officer who handles a lot of the client communications. And we have an executive assistant as well. And then, we have another team member. And they all just step in and do different parts of the business so that everything flows accordingly.
Lourdes: So how long have you had this business?
Tyreen: Honestly, not too long. When I think about it, it’s crazy. But I resigned in 2019, and then that’s when I started just as the VA. And I started the matching process, like the beginning of last year. So the matching part of the business is very new, outside of me being the actual VA.
Lourdes: So what was the most difficult part of starting your matching business?
Tyreen: It’s finding the right match. In the beginning, and I don’t consider myself an expert now, I just think I’ve gotten a lot better. But in the beginning, one, I didn’t have a lot of VAs and EAs to pick from. So when a client would come, it was hard to find the perfect match, because it’s like, maybe I have three to pick from. And, none of these are a really really good match, but one could possibly work. That was the difficult part. But it taught me a lot. It taught me how to really find a good match, versus just picking someone so they can be matched. So that part is what we really pride ourself on is making sure we do get a good match for not only the client, but for the VA as well.
Lourdes: Hm, ok. So now I’m gonna ask you, what is your favorite part of your business? The matching business.
Tyreen: The same thing! It’s the matching part! Like, finding a good match? Wow! It just, it makes my heart smile because I know, from proof, from evidence, what having a good EA can do for you, your company, your business. It’s literally, it’s a game-changer. So knowing that, especially when the clients come back and say “Tyreen, oh my gosh! My VA’s amazing! My EA’s amazing! She did this this and this, so I was able to go home and eat dinner with my family!” Or “I was able to increase sales by 8% since she started!” It’s like, hearing things like that? That is really my favorite part. Knowing that we’re actually – This is like, my mission honestly is to change the way our clients do business. And that is by having a really good support system where you don’t feel alone. Even if you are an exec, and you do have a staff, things like that, you work in an office, sometimes you still feel alone. But your EA is like your right-hand. That’s your go-to person.
Lourdes: Sweet. Yeah, I believe that. Everybody needs some type of support. When you’re not working, what do you do for fun?
Tyreen: That’s a good one. I just have family time, honestly. I am learning to be present in everything that I do, so just sitting down, watching the kids run around and chase each other, it just brings joy to my heart. Or just being able to sit down and watch TV with the kids or with my husband, different things like that. And I love food, so I love to go out to eat. But those are my things. And I’m big on self-care, so.
Lourdes: I was gonna ask you about self-care. My question would be, how do you destress away from work? I know how you have fun, but now we’re talking about self-care, destressing, and all that.
Tyreen: Yeah. So, I’m big on massages. Really really big on that. And not only do I do it for self-care, but I do it for the medical injury that I have as well. So it’s like, double-dose. I get to relax, but I also am taking care of what I have going on. So, that is my go-to. And then, I consider the meditation that I do self-care because I do that alone. I make sure the kids are asleep, or they’re occupied while I do really dig deep into meditating.
Lourdes: Ok. So, what’re you working on right now?
Tyreen: Right now, I am working to scale the business. So we are, we have our arms open for new clients. We are, I always say “enrolling.” We’re enrolling, and we have our doors open for new clients. We have a lot of VAs and EAs that have just joined us recently, so we are eager to get them matched with the perfect client. So that would be where I am right now.
Lourdes: Oh, cool. So typically, how many hours do clients sign up for? Or is it by hours, or month, or what?
Tyreen: No, you’re right. So it’s monthly contracted hourly package. So the lowest package is 30 hours a month, and they can go all the way up to 160 hours a month.
Lourdes: And if it was 30 hours a month, would they have maybe 1 or 2 VAs? So, let’s say one part of their business is admin stuff, and the other part of their business might be social media or something more tech-y. How do you work that out?
Tyreen: So typically, I honestly always recommend if it’s for one client, that they just get 1 VA, and you can just increase that VAs hours. So if you come to us and you say “hey I need someone that can do my website, but they can also be in my inbox checking e-mails,” we’ll pair you with someone that is qualified in both of those areas so you don’t have to worry about dealing with two different VAs. And then, as long as the client is willing to train the VA, even if they don’t have that exact experience, we can always pair them with someone that is close to it or has some type of tech background so that when they come in they can get trained and all is well.
Lourdes: Sounds like a beautiful business model. So, we’re getting to the part of my interview where I ask a funny or weird question. Are you ready Tyreen?
Tyreen: Yes?
Lourdes: Ok, would you rather be forced to dance every time you heard music, or be forced to sing along to any song you heard, and why?
Tyreen: I would definitely pick, ohhh that’s a hard one. I’m stuck because I can’t sing and I can’t dance, so I’m like um, let’s see… I would… I would do the dance. And I would pick dance because I think I’m a better dancer than I am a singer. So if I’m forced to pick one, I would go with dance.
Lourdes: [Laughing] And you get your exercise and destressing I think right?
Tyreen: Right? Exactly, yes.
Lourdes: Good answer, I love it. So finally, how do people find you?
Tyreen: Oh, thank you, thank you for asking! So they can definitely find us on our website, which is https:wwvirtualsolutions.com/. And it’s not like ww dot, I mean you can put that, but the WW stands Wise Walk. Some people like trying to put a dot, but it’s just https:wwvirtualsolutions.com/. And we are also on LinkedIn. We just decided to only post on LinkedIn as of last week, but you can still find us on the other social media platforms, we just won’t be active on their anymore.
Lourdes: Ok, so for your LinkedIn what is the LinkedIn handle, or how do we find you? Do we just type in WW Virtual Solutions?
Tyreen: So for LinkedIn, you can search Wise Walk Virtual Solutions, and you can also connect with me on my personal page, and you can find me on there, Tyreen Taylor.
Lourdes: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for being a guest on my show. This was really interesting!
Tyreen: Yay, thank you for having me!
Lourdes: Alright. So I’ll talk to you later, and stay safe!
Tyreen: Alright, thank you.
Lourdes: And join me next week, when my guest is a world traveler with his backpack, a trained chef, and also a travel agency owner and serial entrepreneur.
[Music outro]
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Resources
Tureen’s Website: https://www.wwvirtualsolutions.com
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