Turn Your Virtual Assistant into a Leader (Here’s How)! with Shiela Mae Onlos

Episode Summary

 Shiela Mae Onlos Podcast Interview

[00:00:00] Kris Ward: Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Win The Hour Win The Day, and I am your host, Kris Ward. And today in the house we’ve got a special treat. We got Shiela Onlos. She is one of the virtual assistants in our leadership program, and we’re just gonna pull back the curtain and we’re going to talk behind the scenes and we’re gonna get the what’s what, the scoop on how, Win The Hour Win The Day is.

[00:00:20] Kris Ward: People keep telling me all the time, Shiela, you can agree with this or not, that we do this completely different than anybody out there. So welcome to the show, Shiela. 

[00:00:30] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes, I agree with that, Kris. That’s really what I really love about this type of job with you. It’s completely different and it’s really something that, you want to look forward as a virtual assistant.

[00:00:41] Shiela Mae Onlos: Hi again, Kris, and thank you so much for inviting me to your podcast. It’s really such an honor to be with, to be here with you.

[00:00:50] Kris Ward: Okay. Alright. So thank you again. So first off, for those who don’t know. We’re not a virtual assistant agency. What we do is we do find, hire and onboard VAs [00:01:00] for our clients that are entrepreneurs and we put those VAs in the leadership program.

[00:01:04] Kris Ward: And why we do that is so many people just think, oh, I just need more time, or I need more help. So we get the virtual assistants for our entrepreneurs. Then the VAs go in the leadership program, and then I work with different levels of coaching with my clients and I show them how to be ready for you and how to run their business and do scrums and super toolkits.

[00:01:25] Kris Ward: We’ll explain all of that, what that is in a minute, right? But so many people just throw tasks at a VA and you just get dumped on and you’re buried in it really. And then people say, oh my gosh, I thought my VA like I, I want it’s too much work. It’s easier to do myself. It’s ’cause of the set up, right?

[00:01:42] Kris Ward: So we address all that and a big part of that is how we run our day-to-day operations and also the leadership program. So tell me, Shiela, don’t hold back. What did you notice that’s different about how we do it compared to all the other jobs you had? 

[00:01:56] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, perfectly. You already said what are the [00:02:00] that some of the things that I really noticed that different, big, different from other job that I have before, and that is one, the scrum.

[00:02:08] Kris Ward: Okay.

[00:02:08] Shiela Mae Onlos: The second is..

[00:02:09] Kris Ward: Okay, let’s just start one at a time.

[00:02:10] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes. 

[00:02:11] Kris Ward: So the scrum, okay. What was different? The scrum, so scrums are like little meetings we have every day, so they’re not communicating through email. You’re not meeting once a week and somebody dumping a whole bunch of tasks on you. They’re little collaborative sessions about 15, 20 minutes a day that we monitor the scrums. Okay, so what did you notice difference about the scrums? 

[00:02:30] Shiela Mae Onlos: This, with Scrum, the biggest advantage I experience is clarity. Like it keeps you focused. Yeah. It helps me adapt quickly and makes you know the teamwork flow better. Like instead of feeling overwhelmed or second guessing like what I have done or experience before I use scrum to break assignments into smaller steps. You share updates Yeah. And check-ins. And that rhythm gives me [00:03:00] confidence. Yeah. And it gives me projects or the projects moving without confusion because you can always ask your team leader if you are on the same page or you are doing the right thing.

[00:03:12] Shiela Mae Onlos: And yeah, on a daily basis, it means I’m more organized and I’m more pro proactive and not just reactive. So that is the very first thing that I really. 

[00:03:24] Kris Ward: Let me jump in ’cause you brought up some really good points. Okay. I think what you’re saying too is the clarity is there. So when somebody gives you a written instruction, whether it’s email or through project management platform, and you think you understand it, right?

[00:03:38] Kris Ward: And then you could be working on that for half hour or two hours and then you find out, oh, they meant something different. ’cause they had something different in their mind. When you’re meeting every day, what you’re saying is. You guys are collaborating, you’re conversing, you’re, you got little checkpoints.

[00:03:51] Kris Ward: She might say let me see this. And you’re like, you’re just going back and forth and so you, you don’t fall off course and realize you’ve worked on something two hours and you misunderstood. [00:04:00] That’s a big part of it. 

[00:04:01] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, that’s really the big part of it. You have this common understanding on what you are thinking before diving into that assignment.

[00:04:10] Kris Ward: And also you get to know your team leader. That’s the entrepreneur, that’s my client. We call them team leaders. You get to know them so much quicker. So recently someone joined our team and Michael joined our team and so when we’re doing daily scrums in two weeks, he’s met with us 10 times and he knows us, and now he’s joking with us and he feels comfortable versus if in other places you didn’t meet with people at all, they sent you an email instructions through email, or you met with him once a week, and so you’re still apprehensive and nervous.

[00:04:39] Kris Ward: Where Michael on the second week like he’s laughing with the rest of us that acts like he’s been there for six months. ’cause he’s had 10 touch points with me. He’s seen my sense of humor. He knows what I, he’s understanding my shorthand. He’s understanding how I talk when I say things. He asks questions because we’re having a conversation.

[00:04:57] Kris Ward: ’cause another thing you brought up that I think is really a good [00:05:00] point is when you’re meeting with someone every day, you have no problem asking a quick question. But when you’re working on your own, you almost have to have a really big problem before you think, oh my gosh, I’m gonna have to send her an email.

[00:05:09] Kris Ward: I don’t understand this. So it’s almost like you have to step up to ask a question, whereas when you’re collaborating, it’s not such an effort. 

[00:05:17] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes, that really makes sense. Having talking with your team leader on a daily basis gives you a confidence and you can be at ease and just knowing her and talking with her every day make you feel confident and yeah, just relax on everything that you do. What Michael is… 

[00:05:36] Kris Ward: yeah.

[00:05:36] Shiela Mae Onlos: Doing I feel comfortable with Kim Yeah. And my team leader and, we can actually collaborate. No, there’s no up or down on the leadership structure. 

[00:05:47] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I mean. 

[00:05:49] Kris Ward: And a big part of what we do is I work with her on her leadership too.

[00:05:52] Kris Ward: Because what people don’t understand is the corporate model is very based on management, right? Like it’s very parentified like a parent. And there’s a difference between [00:06:00] a manager and a leader. So a manager is always reacting and managing. And so another thing we do is once a week, as you submit a scrum, any scrum, it doesn’t matter.

[00:06:09] Kris Ward: And I take a look at those Scrum sessions and I give Kim tips on how she could be more effective and more clear. And she’s always, oh, that was a good point. Oh, I thought I was clear here and it wasn’t there. So there’s so many different angles that Scrum serves us. So yeah, it we’re working with her to be a really effective leader as much as we’re working with you in the leadership program.

[00:06:31] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes, I totally agree with that. With the Scrum, I really improve on my communication skill because daily I get to discuss everything with her. I get confident on talking with her. Since this scrum or the academy is, yeah, it’s not it’s a shared leadership. It’s not a fixed role like I will be talking, she will listen and vice versa. So that was the advantage of this scrum as well. 

[00:06:57] Kris Ward: That is really well said. I’m gonna write that down. It [00:07:00] is a shared leadership. I do have a lot of my clients will say, oh my gosh, Kris, I actually feel like I have peers. I don’t feel like I’m alone anymore. I. I will tell you honestly, and I think Shiela, you can back me up in my team, they are all so smart that I am frankly the dumbest person in the room like they are really, and that’s the amazing part.

[00:07:18] Kris Ward: If you’re the entrepreneur and you’re the dumbest one in the room, you are in a good room, right? We talked a little bit about scrums, but let’s back up for a second and talk a little bit more about the leadership program. What was that like for you when we started talking to you about the leadership program?

[00:07:32] Kris Ward: It’s okay. In order to work with us, you have to be in the leadership program. How is that experience? Do you like it? What’s going on there? 

[00:07:39] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, really. I… since I start with the leadership program, it really improves my leadership yes skills, how I speak, how I communicate, and it gives me a lot of learnings as a VA and how I apply it to my daily tasks.

[00:07:56] Shiela Mae Onlos: And I’m so thankful with Maura for all the feedback, [00:08:00] especially well if you interview me before. This is not how I communicate with you. I’m shy. Oh, yeah. I cannot, yeah. I cannot discuss. I mean I’m not this, I confident in talking

[00:08:11] Kris Ward: you blossom, a lot of people blossom in the leadership program.

[00:08:14] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah.

[00:08:14] Kris Ward: So when I, we have a 12 point hiring process and we’ve got like a 90% retention rate. What I look for is the potential in someone. So even though you may have felt you weren’t as confident, you didn’t have the leadership colleagues, I could see how smart you were. I could see how passionate you were.

[00:08:28] Kris Ward: And I always hire personality over skillset. So I knew there was great potential there. And we wanna get you from great to super great to amazing, and that’s what we do in the leadership program. And yes, Maura who works with me as an amazing captain in the leadership program. And it does. People tell me what Criz said to me.

[00:08:45] Kris Ward: She’s on my team, she said, Kris, I feel like a flower that blossomed and you just, you come into your own and you feel more capable and confident and more seen and more heard, which makes you more valuable to your team leader. 

[00:08:59] Shiela Mae Onlos: [00:09:00] Yeah, totally agree with that. If you value yourself, you know what’s your worth, then you will really, you cannot give what you don’t want, actually.

[00:09:07] Shiela Mae Onlos: So the Academy helped me blossom, helped me understand myself better so I can be more productive. Yeah. Especially in my tasks and assignment as a virtual assistant. And really, I really appreciate the academy. This is something that other job opportunity before that I never experienced.

[00:09:28] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. I got to learn more a lot and it’s something that you should as a vertical assistant look forward. Yes. 

[00:09:35] Kris Ward: Yeah. I think what you’re saying is like we do have the learning, the leadership program, the learning center. And I think in other places when they talk about training VAs, you’re like, okay, you need to know how to learn how to upload a YouTube video or all this tech stuff like turning into a task puppet where we have weekly action items where we’re proving improving your communication skills, your leadership skills, your confidence, different soft skills.

[00:09:59] Kris Ward: And [00:10:00] then also helping you with calendar management and productivity. Things like you were very really pleased with some of the stuff. You’re like, oh my gosh, in the productivity unit, in the leadership program, you’re like, oh yeah, I really resonate with that. I, and some of it’s things that we all do, like you think multitasking is a good thing.

[00:10:15] Kris Ward: You’re trying to do all this stuff at the same time, so we really try to make your day more efficient as well as all the other things. I think that’s the difference. We’re not just, we’re not just trying to, oh, you have to learn this about LinkedIn. ’cause now LinkedIn’s important. It’s really teaching you skills to be able to do all jobs better. Wouldn’t you agree? 

[00:10:35] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, I totally agree that, you in this academy, it’s just that Yeah, they, in the academy we are, you are not teaching us something that, in return will just, give you, result, it’s mainly helping us to grow as individual. Yeah. And to be a better person.

[00:10:55] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. That’s actually what I really see about the academy.

[00:10:58] Kris Ward: Yeah. That’s a Oh, that’s a good [00:11:00] point. I appreciate that. And you’re right, it’s not just giving you like resources. So I, LinkedIn better or YouTube better, it’s like making you an overall stronger team player on every level. So no matter where the job takes you, whatever you’re doing, you are just gonna be stronger because you’re, you know how to run your calendar.

[00:11:18] Kris Ward: You’re more productive, you’re more effective, you know how to do super toolkits and scrums, and you got confidence in your voice and your leadership. So it’s really just making you capable to take on anything really.

[00:11:29] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, that’s really, that’s totally makes sense and I really agree with that. It’s something that builds us as a person. Yeah. And improve us, our character, our personality, holistically. That’s what the academy do to, for us. 

[00:11:46] Kris Ward: Okay, so I know you’re also a fan of our super toolkits. So our super toolkits are dynamic breathing documents. They’re very different than SOPs. SOPs are tend to be clunky by nature, and they’re written by the, not written by the end user, and they’re usually just there for liability.

[00:11:59] Kris Ward: And [00:12:00] also, I think you could agree, Shiela, sometimes people think they got SOPs and they got good ones. And then you look and great big, huge manuals of, like one of my clients when she came to us, she’s oh, I got a SOP for social media. And it was like a 40 page document. And what would happen is the VA would then have to go in and extrapolate information from it and make her own SOP ’cause there’s too much content.

[00:12:22] Kris Ward: So the super toolkits are very easy to use and I know they were really helpful to you. Would you like, did you wanna expand on that? 

[00:12:30] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes. Before I was with yeah, in my past experience I do experience reading SOPs that are, from left to I really don’t understand the flow.

[00:12:42] Shiela Mae Onlos: And I experienced having this super toolkit and it really gives me freedom. It saves me so much time because I don’t have to start from scratch every time. Like it has a flow, a clear flow, specific step, and it really [00:13:00] and the best part of this is you can update it. You can delete and you can use it forever.

[00:13:06] Shiela Mae Onlos: Like it’s, yeah, you don’t need to put everything on your head and just when you need to use it, even though if it’s not your work, but if you have super toolkit, just read it and you can actually follow all these steps you need to do. 

[00:13:22] Kris Ward: Yeah, that’s a really good point. ’cause it’s written so easy, like it’s just so easy to digest that it keeps your headspace free for the actual work you have to do.

[00:13:30] Kris Ward: And I often say that too, like our super toolkit for this podcast to process this podcast and get it up to air. I’m certain I could give that to anybody. Even though it’s a robust super toolkit, I can give it to you and you would be able to follow it because it’s so clear. Also, in your case, my gosh, people don’t realize this, but you weren’t working with Kim very long and all of a sudden Kim had a medical situation and she was gone for a month and you were running the show and doing a fantastic job, and you were, and you left me a message.

[00:13:59] Kris Ward: You was like, [00:14:00] Kris, I’m just using these super toolkits and this is like you weren’t stressed out and panicked. You didn’t drop the ball, everything went really well, and you’re just following the super toolkits that were created. 

[00:14:11] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, that’s really a game changer for me. It’s, it saves me from those headaches and Yeah.

[00:14:19] Shiela Mae Onlos: And Super Toolkit really has, is my guide from that one month of standing alone without Kim. And thankfully I really appreciate because everything is clear and, it empowers also independence, yeah. You need, you don’t need to always ask Kim since she is sick. Yeah. And so you can stand alone.

[00:14:40] Shiela Mae Onlos: You can do the job because the instruction, the steps are already there on your super toolkit. Yeah. So that’s it. 

[00:14:47] Kris Ward: Yeah. ’cause that would’ve been a very different. What would you have done if you were somewhere else? Like the person you work with is not in and you’ve only been at the job a couple months and even if you didn’t make mistakes or you made mis, we all make mistakes, but even if you made mistakes [00:15:00] that were forgivable, the stress of that on you while you’re by yourself I shouldn’t be here by myself.

[00:15:04] Kris Ward: I’ve only had this job three months like it would be, and you wouldn’t know how bad you messed up until the person came back. That would’ve been a very different situation. And again. Not only did you have the super toolkits, but you had access to us and the learning center and the monthly lives and the leadership team.

[00:15:20] Kris Ward: And so you also had a community. That’s okay. What do you need? We’re here to help and because that’s a big thing I hear a lot from VAs and I can’t even imagine it, is you have this person you work with. They’re running all over the place trying to play catch up. They’re pivoting, they’re throwing things over their shoulder, expecting you to keep up with them.

[00:15:37] Kris Ward: And I always say adding people to chaos does not create calm. So they’re in a chaotic state. They’re throwing work at you, and you mostly feel isolated. You have no support system. You’ve no one to ask questions. You’re not meeting with them every day. You’re lucky if you get an email and they’re asking you when things are done or not done.

[00:15:55] Kris Ward: A lot of the VA said to me, it felt so alone.

[00:15:59] Shiela Mae Onlos: [00:16:00] Yeah, actually I just experienced that support. On my, personal support. Just this week when I was really having trouble with my SMM task assignments. I really appreciate Michael and Criz. Criz the smaller Criz.

[00:16:18] Kris Ward: Yeah. So there’s a Criz on my team, it’s CRIZ, so there’s Kris and Criz. Yeah. It’s not complicated. Of course. I know. Yeah. 

[00:16:26] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yes. So they really supported me and I never felt alone. In this type of job that I have, because there really is a constant support to me. They, because also of your support quiz for giving me an SMM training, I got I felt a bit anxious before last week because I have this, worry on if I’m doing the right thing.

[00:16:49] Shiela Mae Onlos: That because of this community where you can freely share your burden or your struggles on your job, then you can [00:17:00] feel or there’s always resolve or answer to your questions or your career. So thank you so much. That’s what I really appreciate about a community like this. 

[00:17:10] Kris Ward: Yeah, because what happens is even the best of the best, and we were talking about that even the best of the best.

[00:17:15] Kris Ward: When you’re so good at what you do, it’s very easy for your win team leader. To start giving you more and more work. And then sometimes with they’re not, they’re still new at learning how to run a team and they don’t realize how much they’ve given you, and then you’re starting to feel a little bit of pressure like, oh my gosh, I’m doing all these things right.

[00:17:32] Kris Ward: And I’m like saying, okay, that should have never happened. You don’t need to wait till you’re stressed out. You don’t need to say, okay, I can work harder and I can manage this and I can do all that stuff. You just need to say Hey. Kris, I’m starting to be pulled in too many different directions and then I’m gonna help your team leader see that, right?

[00:17:49] Kris Ward: So it’s, this should, ’cause it doesn’t make you productive it, the stress alone is gonna slow down your productivity. Plus then you’re all trying to keep up on all these new [00:18:00] things and let’s be clear. It’s not that you don’t get a lot done, you are a powerhouse. But sometimes when that happens, when you’re really capable and really confident, I think anything done well looks easy.

[00:18:14] Kris Ward: So it’s kinda like when you watch the Olympics and somebody bounces off the diving board and they do 42 flips, and then you go, oh, look at that one. Too much splash. He made too much splash, right? Yes. And it’s ’cause you’re like, oh, that looks so easy, and we’ve watched it again and again. So sometimes what happens is.

[00:18:29] Kris Ward: When you’re really capable, they start giving you more and more, and they’re not keeping track of it. And that’s my job to step in and say, okay, let’s revisit that. So you were starting to feel a little pressure last week and we’re like, and people on the team came to me and said, hey, I think Shiela’s starting to feel a little pressure.

[00:18:43] Kris Ward: I’m like, okay, let’s take a look at that. And so then it helps us help your team leader to reorganize your tasks and say, Hey, let’s revisit this. There’s 20 things happening here. Do we need all 20 at the same time? So that’s a big part of what we do. Is teaching them how to run a team [00:19:00] because they’ve never been in the past, good at running themselves.

[00:19:02] Kris Ward: Nevermind a team, right?

[00:19:04] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. And that’s what the best part of Win The Hour Win The Day team, because you Kris really you really see you took good care of your team, especially those who have experienced stress. You always that was always your words that you cannot be, you cannot be productive if you are stressed.

[00:19:29] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. And you will always find way to settle everything for that would not get… put gap to my team leader and to me as well. And just, keep things smoothly. And that is what really I appreciate here, because before I’ll just, I don’t have that line Yeah. To talk to my team leader or my boss before, I just, I just keep on working and even though I’m stressed out, I don’t have that strength to share or tell my boss that, oh, this [00:20:00] is too much. Yeah, I cannot do this anymore. But here, there is a space for that. You always take good care of us knowing that we should be productive because we are at the right hand and you are always taking care of us.

[00:20:14] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah. 

[00:20:15] Kris Ward: It’s not even that I’m a great person or anything like that. It’s just not productive and what people don’t understand, and we, you’re right, we were working on that this month in the live training is, here’s some phrases. So if somebody comes to you and they give you 10 different things and all of a sudden they don’t realize in two days they’ve given you 10 different priorities, can you get this done?

[00:20:33] Kris Ward: Can you get done? And so we teach you guys how to say things professionally okay, sure, that’s not a problem. Listen. I have about eight priorities in the last 24 hours. And why don’t we go through these and see which one you want me to do first, and that way you can say really nicely Hey, I can’t do eight things at the same time.

[00:20:52] Kris Ward: So you know that we teach you language on how can you professionally redirect that because you’re right, I don’t care who you are. I’ve had [00:21:00] jobs where they threw too much at me and I didn’t. Think that they were gonna be open to me saying I can’t do all this. And if I could say that, it always felt like I was failing.

[00:21:08] Kris Ward: Oh, I guess I should work harder, I should be going stronger. I’m the problem. And but if somebody taught you to say, Hey, I’m just not sure if you’re aware that we have eight priorities here and I just need clarification, which one is your first priority? And I’ve even my team say that, I’m pretty good at all this stuff, but there have been times in the middle of a launch or something and we got too many things up in the air.

[00:21:29] Kris Ward: And then Criz will say to me, okay, no problem. So can we revisit the priorities you’ve given me? ’cause I have five here and I just need to know which one you want me to start with. And I’m like, oh, that is, that’s a good point. Okay. I hear you. I hear you. We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here.

[00:21:45] Kris Ward: And she wasn’t rude or disrespectful, she was just tying me down and tethering me to the problem. So that’s the thing. It’s really just about being efficient and productive, and if everybody’s running around stressed, nobody’s productive. 

[00:21:58] Shiela Mae Onlos: Yeah, I totally agree with [00:22:00] that, Kris. And that, what, that is one of the learning I got, yeah from our training, actually that was yesterday as with yeah, the training that I get and now I can talk to Kim using those words. Yeah. Without making making her feel that. Feel I misunderstand her or I’m not willing to work this. Yeah. But yeah, we, because of that, we settle or we resold some of the concern that we have on my assignment.

[00:22:31] Shiela Mae Onlos: And so yeah. I am more productive right now and I can see, and he can, and she can. And notice that I’m also like, doing my assignment happier. Yeah. 

[00:22:42] Kris Ward: Yeah. And more effective. And that’s the thing is it’s a win for her because now you’re not if you have a hundred things to do in your head before you finish today, you just, you are rushing.

[00:22:52] Kris Ward: Rushing. And I know. I’m a recovering rusha holic, and I used to think I just went faster and all I was doing was skimming over [00:23:00] detail, not getting traction. So you do need your brain. It’s not about going as fast as hard as you can. And so for so many entrepreneurs, it’s always, if I had more time, if I could go faster.

[00:23:10] Kris Ward: But we know clarity, there has to be calm, to have clarity. Oh my gosh. Okay. Any final thoughts, Shiela? Anything final you wanna say? We really appreciate all your insights here.

[00:23:21] Shiela Mae Onlos: Once again, Kris, thank you for this opportunity for give it to me. It’s just an, it’s been an honor to be part of your team and also team of Kim.

[00:23:31] Shiela Mae Onlos: And I just want to I’m so thankful for all the learnings, for all the mentorship and all the, yeah, all the things that I have learned from you and from this, from the academy. I just want to appreciate you with that and moving forward I want to learn more from you. Thank you so much.

[00:23:49] Kris Ward: You’re already as sponge you are a stellar. I just always enjoy connecting with you ’cause you’re so detailed and so thoughtful and you’re so aware and you’ll give us feedback on the modules and you’re like, oh yeah, this one [00:24:00] was really good and gave us some insights and, oh, I didn’t realize I did that. And you just really do appreciate the learnings, I must say.

[00:24:07] Kris Ward: I, I always, it’s a treat to listen to you. Alright, everyone share this with the business, but I don’t have them banging around. And make sure to, subscribe and leave us review. I check every single one of them and it just helps us help more people. All right, so we will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much.