Janice Porter: Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of
relationships rule. With me today is Christy Yoder. She is a
proud Filipina, based in Ohio, and is the founder and CEO of
smart vas, and the host of her own podcast, the master
delegator, where she teaches entrepreneurs and leaders to
grow their business by delegating. And first of all, I
want to say welcome to the show, Christy.
Kristy Yoder: Thank you so much, Jen, is I'm excited to be here.
Janice Porter: Thank you. What I love is that Christine and I met
on LinkedIn, my favorite place to meet people. And then we've
had a couple of conversations and decided that what she has to
offer could be useful to my audience, and I believe it is
because i i vacillate between, you know, jumping into using VAs
big time or not, and, you know, get afraid of certain things. So
I want to get into that a little bit. But first of all, I want to
ask you, all right, I've read your LinkedIn profile. I've
looked at your website, you're a pretty educated person. And and
you have been in corporate, I think, and then how did you get
into doing what you're doing now? I just love to know.
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, well, thank you so much. For that question.
I love sharing, you know, how I got to where I am now. So I grew
up in Philippines, in 2019, I moved to the States, so I'm
pretty fresh and new here in the states by but in 2017, I met the
love of my life, and he wanted me to move to the states. And
during that time, I was employed full time at a corporate, you
know, company. And I thought, I told myself that if I would want
to start my own family, I don't want to be that person who would
not be able to take care of her family, you know, not being able
to cook breakfast or cook dinner, you know, with your
husband or with your kids. And so I told myself that in order
for me to do that, I need to have more freedom and
flexibility in my life. And so at that time, I decided that I'm
going to quit my job and start freelancing. And during that
time, in 2017, I didn't even know that I was a virtual
assistant, I thought that I was just offering services to, to
businesses online, I felt I was just a freelancer, but I didn't
consider myself a virtual assistant. And so I started
becoming a virtual assistant. And then when I moved to the
States in 2019, I love meeting new people just like you, I love
building relationships, you know, with people, regardless if
they can help me or not, you know, I just love getting to
know people. And so just because of my personality, I was able to
build my network. And because I have a huge amount of
connections, you know, on LinkedIn, and even on Instagram,
I got so stressed and overwhelmed. Because my current
clients back then, they wanted me to take on new projects for
them. And my new connections, they wanted me to start working
for them. And during that time, I was like, Okay, I just moved
to the States. You know, I just moved to the States, and I
didn't really want to reject anybody, you know, I don't want
to be rude to them by saying no, and I'm worried. I was like
dealing with Americans, you know, like people from Northern
America. And I was like, Okay, I'm a Filipino. I just moved to
the States. I couldn't say no. And so I told myself to get to
have right was it's a good problem to have. And so I said
yes, to many of them, I got so stressed and overwhelmed. And
then I realized that I shouldn't be doing things alone. And so I
started contacting a few of my friends in the Philippines, who,
who were at the time also freelancing. And so I asked for
their help, they started working for me part time. And then when
they started working for me, I was like, Oh, this is such a
good idea. You know, I was kind of like cloning myself and
asking people to work on my clients projects. And, and now
my job is to just build a relationship with them, right? I
don't have to like work on their projects, what I just need to do
is nurture my relationship with them, and have my my friends who
were freelancing, continue working on their projects. And
so that's when I started to grow my virtual assistant agency. So
I was a virtual assistant, I was just solo and now I have a team
of over 70 plus virtual assistants and I'm no longer the
virtual assistant. I'm now acting as CEO of my business.
And that is thanks to the relationship that I have built
with my connections when I moved to the States.
Janice Porter: It's fantastic. It really is you've done a
really, really good job. So if I can just dig in a little bit,
alluding to what I was talking about what I alluded to at the
beginning with you know when someone has never worked with a
virtual assistant before and And they know that they need to. And
quite often it would be a solopreneur or a, you know,
Coach consultant, people who are sort of building their
reputation and their business, by themselves really to start
with, and then it gets overwhelming, right? So then it
becomes, okay, I need to delegate to somebody, but I
don't know what to delegate to them. I don't know if I can
trust somebody else to do it the way I want it done. And all of
those questions that I know, come up for people like me, so
how do you? How do you ease the way for your clients? How do you
guide them to, to making the process easier for them and
finding the right fit with your particular VAs that you would
assign different things? So back to that?
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, that is such a good question. And, you know,
I think a lot of solopreneurs can relate to this, because we
fear the unknown, and not trying to hire a virtual assistant.
That is what what's making us fear, fearful, you know, we're
like, we're, we're scared of hiring a virtual assistant,
because we have not hired one. And it's kind of like starting
your own business, right? Like, it's kind of scary to start your
own business, because you don't know the ins and outs of it yet.
But once you start, you know, taking the first step, then
you're going to realize that, Oh, it wasn't really that hard
that I, it wasn't as hard as I was thinking. And so for
solopreneurs, who are wanting to hire virtual assistants that
they're trying to afraid, because they don't know, if
they're gonna find the right VA for them, they don't know, if
the VA would be able to give them the results that they want,
or do the word as exact exactly as how they would do them. My My
advice is to start start small. So test the waters First, don't
go all out, because that's what I did as well, at first, you
know, I'm a very skeptical person, you know, I am, I may be
intrigued, I may be very extroverted, I may be good in,
you know, talking to people, but I'm very skeptical. You know, I
trust people, you know, whenever, you know, I get to
know them already. But once that trust is ruined, it's hard for
me to like, give that back to that person. So what I did was I
started small. So you need to ask yourself, what is that one
task that you can hand off to a virtual assistant, that is not
going to affect you and your business? Like, in a very, in a
way where you're gonna lose your business, or you're gonna lose
your motivation to continue working on your business. So
start small, that can be your administrative tasks, let's say,
looking up, you know, for people online that you can get
connected with, you know, in second, you need to make sure
that you have a standard operating procedure in place.
Now, I don't really like talking about standard operating
procedure, you know, I don't, I don't like it, I don't like
calling it SOPs, or standard operating procedure, because it
sounds very corporate it, you know, but I don't have a name
for it yet. So let's leave it that way. So you need to make
sure that you have SOPs in place so that you know that you set
the right standards, and that those standards that you have in
your business, how you do things in your business, and that is
how exactly, your VA is going to do things for your business as
well. So you need to set expectations. And oftentimes,
you know, I've worked with a lot of business owners, and
oftentimes they didn't realize at first that they need SOPs, or
they need to instruct their VA s, they thought that when they
hire a virtual assistant, their virtual assistant is going to
just figure it all out. And that's not actually true. You
know, if you want to set your business for success, you need
to set your virtual assistant up for success as well. And that is
by making sure that you have SOPs in place in and making sure
that you communicate with them as well check in with them,
especially for the first three months of your working
relationship together. It's important that you check in with
them at least once a week and you're not just going to check
in with them because you want to check their work. You're
checking in with them to build a relationship as well. You know,
you need to give your VA an opportunity to get to know you
and your business and you need to allow yourself to get to know
the VA as well, because that's what makes everything work
smoothly having a relationship with your team member and not
just any kind of relationship like a A deep personal
relationship with your team member.
Janice Porter: Right? You raised some good points. But it also
raised another question for me, which is my experience with the
little bit of work I've had done by other people, especially the
and in fact, Philippine Filipinos as well. Because what
I've learned is, I have to know that our timeframe is completely
different. So we have to know when the best time for talking
to that person is and then, you know, adjust and set that up.
But more importantly, my experience with any kind of VA
has been, I think, maybe my expectations of a VA, perhaps
were too much in the sense that if I want a task done that I
don't know how to do properly, because I'm not technical, or I
don't know how that program works. I just know, I need to
use it to get from point A to point B, I want you to look
after that. Is there is there a fine line between the VA who
understands that and can take over and say, Well, this is
here's what you need. Tell me if this looks right, or not? Or
someone who's just waiting for instructions? Because that would
work in that case?
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, that is? That is a good question. You
know, and that is a very valid concern. And I've experienced
that as well. And I realized that there are two different
types of virtual assistants. The other one might be actually
quite different. They probably shouldn't be considered virtual
assistants, you know, because they're more specialists, you
know, but virtual assistants mainly are implementers, the
implement the strategy that you already have. So these are the
doors. So if you already have a strategy, they will immediately
implement those strategy for you. Now, in your case, you said
that you didn't know about, you know, some of the technicalities
of the tasks that you delegated to a virtual assistant, then
what you need is a VA specialist. You know, not all
virtual assistants are skilled to think the way how business
owners think. But there are VA bas out there who specializes in
a specific skill, let's say social media strategy. So if if,
let's say, for example, you don't know anything about social
media, and you want your VA, to run it for you, then you need a
specialist, so that you can make things happen so that your
specialist can make things things happen, even without you
knowing all about social media. So those are two different
virtual assistants that you're going to be looking for, you
need to know whether you need a specialist or do you need a doer
or an implementer?
Janice Porter: Okay, okay. Makes sense. That makes sense. So, so
you do the the, the intake, the onboarding, and you match your
new client to your, your, the right Assistant, the right,
yeah,
Kristy Yoder: exactly, yeah. And we always tell our clients, we
set expectations at the onset, that we're not a marketing
agency, you know, based on the experience we've had with so
many clients that we've helped, we know different strategies,
you know, we can only recommend strategies that we have already
implemented. But we cannot create a strategy from scratch
for our clients, because we're not a marketing strategy. So we
help them a little bit with, you know, weed strategies that we
think are that we think that's going to work for them. And we
also are very proactive when it comes to telling them that no,
this isn't gonna work. We've tried this for other clients,
and we don't think this is going to work for you.
Janice Porter: Oh, that's good to know. That's really good. So
let's just broaden the scope here a little bit, because I'm
fascinated that you know, you are and I noticed this when I
first talked to you, the very first time we met on Zoom is
you're very, you're very smart. And I think I think you know,
you are and I love that you have you have taken something and
created this business for yourself and you you've been
very successful at it. And I love that. And what would you
what would you attribute your success? Mostly to?
Kristy Yoder: Wow, that is such a good question. And I feel like
I'm gonna tear up. You know, what if there is one main
investment that I have invested in my business, that would be
two things. First, courage and resiliency. No amount of money
can help you grow a business if you don't have courage and
resilience. MC, if you are a business owner, you need to have
those two. If not, then people are just going to stomp on you,
you're not going to be able to make it, you're not going to
have a successful business. And I'm glad that I was brought up
in a way where I'm not fearful of things, you know, I mean, I
have, I fear a lot of things, but I don't feel too much to the
point of not trying them. You know, if that makes sense. So,
I'm glad Yeah. And I'm glad that my parents were very courageous
as well. And they're very, very resilient. You know, I grew up
in a third world country, we make do of things that we have.
Are your parents still there? Uh, my dad is actually visiting
the States right now. So he's here at home? My mom is in the
Philippines.
Janice Porter: Okay. Okay. And my experience with the many
Filipinos that I know are, they're all hard workers and
everybody, yeah, and quite often have such a strong sense of
family as well. So all of that builds character. And I love
that. So that makes sense that, you know, you know that you need
to work hard, and you know, that you need to be strong inside.
And even though you're fearful, feel the fear and do it anyway.
Right.
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, exactly. And if I may just share for, you
know, a little bit when I moved to the States, you know, when I
was the one doing our sales presentation, I was so scared
doing it, because I was looking at myself as somebody that have
built nothing, yet at that time. So I was thinking to myself,
like, who am I to talk to these people who are successful
already, you know, I was, I was pitching our sales to pitching
sales to CEOs and founders, you know, and I had envisioned CEOs
and founders, as somebody who wear suit and tie. So it was
changed a lot. That's true. And with that kind of image in my
mind, you know, that created fear in me. And somebody
actually asked me, So how did you get over your fear? I told
that person I actually don't know, I just, I just did it
anyway, you know, the more you keep on the, the more you keep
on doing it, the more your fear is gonna go away, and you won't,
you won't even notice that you're so confident already
about the things that you fear the most.
Janice Porter: That's really good. So on your bio, it says
here that you leave more than 70 team members, and have served
more than 200 businesses in the US together with your team since
2020. You grew your business from zero to now close to seven
figure revenues and desires to help business owners achieve
their business goals. That's pretty, pretty. Something to be
very proud of. And along the way, would who would you say has
influenced you the most? Did you have anyone in your business
world that you latched on to as a you know, as a mentor? Or was
it what was it? Who was it?
Kristy Yoder: So I had tried different mentors, and at the
moment, I have two mentors. And the reason why I have two
mentors is because I believe that one person can really they
don't have, they don't know everything, you know, and my my
two mentors, their personality are very different. My other
mentor, he's very focused on emotions. And my other mentor is
very, very focused on logic. So I like that I have the two of
them because they're able to balance things out. And so But
although they have impacted my life, my business, I can say
that they're the ones who have a huge impact in my business. And
this person that impacted my life. A lot is somebody that I
have not met yet. His name is John Maxwell. I'm sure you know
him. Yeah. I binge watch his leadership podcast on YouTube,
his sermons. Yes. And there was actually I think, a couple of
months where I was just like, every day, watching his videos
on leadership and his his, his topics are not about how to
start a business. But he's his main goal is to teach a person
how to become a good leader because he believes that
everything falls and rises on leadership.
Janice Porter: Yeah, his 21 Laws of Leadership. Yeah, I remember.
Yeah. And I actually spoke with someone yesterday who she she's
a John Maxwell. Coach, certified coach and also took His disc
training. Are you familiar with disc? Yeah. A personality? Yeah.
And she said that, yeah, that he had his own sort of way of doing
that. So yeah. And he's been around for a long time, and I
can understand where that would be an interesting and, and
educational and, and practical kind of mentor to have. So
that's awesome. Yeah. And so as someone who teaches people to
delegate, do you delegate
Kristy Yoder: a lot? There was actually a point where I was
like, What am I gonna do now? Like, you know, I delegate, but
I always reassess myself, I am such a visionary, I'm a dreamer.
When I take a shower, I have a lot of ideas. In my mind, when I
take a walk, or even just for five minutes, I probably have 10
to 20 ideas already. And I, I need to delegate because if not,
I won't be able to implement those ideas that I have in my
mind. And I am a goal oriented, a goal and result oriented
person as well. If I have an idea, I'm not afraid to like,
share that with my team members and have them have them do it.
So I'm not I'm not really afraid of failing. Unless it's going to
take my business down. So I take calculated risk. And so I
delegate, but there are also times that I don't realize that
I'm doing too many things already. And so I always
reassess reevaluate myself. Every time I don't stop working
at 5pm. That's when I asked myself, What am I not
delegating? And, okay. And I always ask myself that, because
when I get stressed and overwhelmed already, that's
that's a sign that I'm not delegating some of the tasks
that I'm not supposed to be doing.
Janice Porter: Oh, that's a good question to ask oneself, right?
Because you like it, you're very Are you very strict with
yourself about your timeframes? Like work life balance type of
thing?
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, sir. Sure of, but I know it's going to
change once we build our own family. But I always go back to
my why, like, why am I doing this? Why did I start my
business and ensure that at the beginning of this episode, that
the reason why I started my business, is because I want to
be able to spend time with my loved ones? And if I'm not able
to do that, then what's the point of having a business?
Right? So that's why I always ask myself, why am I not
delegating?
Janice Porter: Okay, good point, you got me thinking you got me
fake. So I think one of my biggest downfalls is not being
consistent with things and I get sidetracked really easily,
because I love to learn, and I want to hear what someone else
has to say. And I find myself going down rabbit holes all the
time. And so I need to be more consistent. And I think,
probably having, I don't know, there's, there's a fine line
between having having the support of someone to help me,
or having the responsibility of having that person because
that's what makes it difficult for me, sometimes. It's the
response, oh, my gosh, I gotta get this ready for my right
person. And I, and sometimes I want them to, to push me a
little bit. Does that make sense? I think that
Kristy Yoder: makes sense. You know, what, I'm actually kind of
like you to like, I get easily distracted. But because I have
somebody that I trust, and she's actually my co she is my first
full time hire. And, and she has handled so many roles in the
business already. And she is one of the main person that I
really, really trust. And she's my right hand person. And I feel
like if you have that person, if you have your right hand, not
literally your right hand. Of course you have your right hand.
Left Handed. Yeah. Okay, cool. That works. So I think it will
make things easier for you because even though you're a
business owner, you have to be accountable with somebody as
well.
Janice Porter: Yes, that's a great point. I love that. That's
so cool. Okay, so this is so much fun. And so finally, in
terms of the VA business, what advice would you give to someone
who is considering hiring a virtual assistant, but is
hesitant or unsure about taking that step? You may have answered
this already, but if you want to put it in, in a little tight
little package with a bow, you can
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, sure. I love this question so much, because
it it gets me thinking and it gets other people thinking as
well. You know what, if your goal is to grow your business,
then you don't have a choice but to delegate. Sooner or later.
You're gonna delegate. You don't have a choice. So my advice for
you is delegate before it's too late, I've met a lot of
businesses who have started delegating, at the point where
their business is already messy. And you can, you can expect your
virtual assistant to fix your mess, you know, again, your
virtual assistant is there to implement your, your, your
strategies, and so don't so delegate before it's too late.
But if you are a solopreneur, and you don't have the desire to
scale your business, then it's okay to do everything your own,
you know, like, there are people out there who, who are content
with just 5k or 10k, you know, months, you know, but there are
ambitious intrapreneurs out there like me who are not
content with those, you know, and so, if you're a solopreneur,
and you're content with what you have right now, you know, go for
it, you know, like, continue what you're doing right now, you
know, don't, you don't have to force yourself to hire virtual
assistants just because I'm telling you to hire virtual
assistants, you know, you don't have to copy other people. But
if you're an entrepreneur who's ambitious, and you're a dreamer,
and you really want to grow your business, you have to delegate.
You know, even even at home, I delegate, I don't vacuum
anymore, I bought a robot to vacuum my house because we have
a dog. And that's one way to save time and energy as well. So
delegation is very, very, it's inevitable, you know, especially
if you want to have flexibility, freedom and peace of mind in
your life. Regardless if it's personal or professional.
Janice Porter: That's a really good point. And I do that with
with things at home too. So I need to think of it a little bit
differently in my business. So. So thank you, thank you for your
information, and your you and your story. Because I love that,
and I'm so glad I met you. And where can people who are maybe
now intrigued and interested, where can they get ahold of you?
And how do they? How do they even investigate that process
with with your company?
Kristy Yoder: Yeah, you can find me on my website, Christy
yoder.com KRISPYYOD or.com. I have free training there on how
to hire a virtual assistant. And I also have a mini course on how
you can delegate effectively to a virtual assistant. And I'm
very social. I'm on Instagram and LinkedIn. So feel free to
send me a DM if you have any questions. I love getting to
know people. So don't be shy if you want to reach out to me.
Janice Porter: You totally do. I know I love that. So I thank you
thank you for being here. And I wish you further success in your
business. And I think that your your secret. I think your secret
sauce is you I think it's that personality that and confidence
that you exude about being able to help people and know that you
believe that that it will help them and their business and I
think that's what's going to take you a long way. So I
appreciate that. I appreciate you being here. And for my
audience please remember to check out Christy's website
Christy I will put it all in the in the show notes Christy
yoder.com. But your company's name is is smart virtual
Kristy Yoder: assistants, our virtual assistants, they can
find it on my website as well
Janice Porter: got it, okay. And I know that she will be willing
to talk to you whatever happens in terms of going forward with a
VA or not. So and remember to stay connected and be remembered