116. Virtual Assisting in Small Towns with Cassidy Johnston

Our guest on today's episode is Cassidy Johnston, my virtual assistant. Cass and I have been working together for over 4 years now, and she joins me today. She's like, she's like totally the behind the scenes person helping so much to help us produce and publish, and she does show notes, and she's just glorious. And so it was really fun. We sit down to talk about how we found each other because, again, like, spoiler alert here, Cassidy and I have never been in the same room together in person. We've worked together for 4 years. She's a dear friend to me, and we haven't physically met. It's actually a little bit of a Cinderella story, I think. I don't know. We're both Cinderella in this story. It's kind of a sweet story because I think, again, when you're in a rural place, you're kind of remote. It can sometimes feel hard not only to find your people, but if you're building a business, it can feel also hard to get supported in the way that you need to or want to. Cassidy and I talk about how we each respectively kind of approached that original meet, how we've evolved over time, how you, as if you're a rural person, you could potentially pick up virtual assistant work, like what that could look like. We just talk all about the arc of her story and how despite raising families and she moved several times during the last 4 years and we still managed to keep this relationship, we managed to keep this work where she feels fulfilled and she's doing a huge service to me and my small business. It's a really fun conversation. You'll hear that there's a lot of love that the two of us have for each other. And again, if nothing else, we kind of want to just generate the hope that that's possible even on the internet. It sometimes feels like a dark and scary place,. But there's also a lot of amazing light to be found, and Cassidy Johnston is full of light. So, man, sit back and relax and just enjoy. You're going to want your own Cassidy by the end of this conversation. I have no doubt about it. So enjoy. Well, Cassidy Johnston, welcome to the Growing Small Town Show.

Hello. I'm so excited to be here. I'm so excited.

You're like, it's really fun. It's like behind the mic. But not me, but you. Like, you're a really important part of this podcast, and yet you've never been on the show. First of all, shame on me.

I mean, no, it's fine, it's fine, because I write the posts, so I kind of have been.

You do. So people need to understand— well, we're just going to kind of launch into this. The whole thing we're talking about here is virtual assisting, virtual assisting. And just again, I think we have a very cool origin story. You've been part of my team and, you know, like a key piece to my sanity for over— is it 4 years now? It's been 4 years.

Yeah. Yeah. No, 5 maybe.

Are you serious?

I think it might actually be 5.

Oh, man.

Because it—

it's crazy.

Yeah.

All I can say is it's crazy because you and I have never been in the same physical room together.

No, I don't even think we've— I mean, I've been in North Dakota for a hot minute one time and a completely different part, but we haven't even been in the same, like, state.

I know, right?

General area.

Well, we're gonna change that. We decided, like, we— yep, we're gonna take a road trip. We're gonna come down and see— it's gonna be great. But all of this is simply to say that for as weird and creepy and scary and psychologically damaging as the internet can be, like It's not always awesome, right? It's not. It also can be just such a glorious place to make real connections with real people that become your people. It's exceptionally cool. So why don't you tell the story of like, because I mean, I think it might be okay. So as we think about this, there's two facets of this, right? There's what it's like for me as an employer in a small town knowing that I want to hire this kind of type of person. Because I had people ask me, why didn't you just hire somebody locally? You know, people ask me that question. And it was like, well, because I was looking for something really specific. And it's kind of— sometimes it can be kind of hard to find that, right? So there's my perspective on this, but then there's also yours. And I think there's so much that people listening to this can take away from you, Cassidy, and like how you've chosen to craft your life. And so we're going to get into your background and stuff, but I think first if you want to tell from your perspective how we met, how it came together, and then I'll backfill kind of my side if it differs in any way. Okay, let's just start there. Like, let's tell our origin story, friend.

Let's do it. So to paint a picture, when I decided I needed to do something, some work of some kind, we had recently— so my husband is— we are ranchers and we moved however many years ago this was. He had just taken a job in New Mexico and we are from Colorado, um, natively. And this is the first ranch that he had worked on that I was not also employed. So we moved to a new state. I had two tiny kids. I think we may have been in the, I don't know if we were two, two and under. I mean, something real close like that. We moved to New Mexico to a very rural place. And long story short, I was losing my mind.

That's just for, for like how rural you were, how far, how many miles away from a grocery store?

We were 90 miles from the nearest Walmart.

As in 9-0?

9-0 miles. It was an experience. We learned so much living in New Mexico and we are so happy we don't live there anymore. Not because New Mexico is a bad place, it just didn't quite— right, it didn't vibe. So I had tried some online things because we were so rural and because we had such tiny children. Getting a job in, in a town or some way was not really an option. I'm not a teacher, I'm not a nurse, and those are the two most common professions in my experience for rural women. And, and I didn't really— I don't have the desire to be either one of those things. Those people who are teachers and nurses are heroes. You are the real MVPs, teachers and nurses, all the way around.

Yep, for sure. Yeah.

And the ranch didn't need another person, so it's not like I could go work full-time for the ranch. So I tried a few things. I tried starting my own stuff but didn't really know. I was kind of wandering around. And then in a Facebook group of, I forget what it was, it was like a rural women's Facebook group, wasn't it, Rebecca? Something like that. Mm-hmm. You posted, I am looking for an assistant. And I said, gosh, you know, it would be so cool if you would consider somebody remote. And you were like, I don't know that I wasn't. And I kind of just like tossed my hat in the ring, like, hey, I would love some work. I would love to use my brain for something besides figuring out which puree pouch we're going to eat for lunch. Moms of young children, you know the brain wilting phase. Being a mother is absolutely wonderful, but when you're in the tiny human phase, it can feel very, very hard. So long story short, it's actually kind of a full circle story because in that house, I remember that I did my job interview with you sitting on my bed in my bedroom, and I am currently sitting on my bed in a completely different bedroom. In another tiny house. There's a whole story there about this, friends. And so that was the beginning of my virtual assistant career. I've since picked up some other clients. Now I'm doing some consulting, but it has enabled me to contribute financially to my family. And when we moved to New Mexico, I, I said to myself, okay, I am going to find a way to make myself a job that I can take with me because I love to work. And my husband at that time was a ranch hand. Now he's a ranch manager, but it's pretty much necessary for me to bring in some kind of income. And so I said, I'm going to find a way. I don't know what it's going to look like, but I'm going to find a way to have a job that comes with me no matter where we move, because ranch hands, you know, people who don't own their own operations tend to move a lot. We have lived in— this is our third house since that house, Rebecca, right? Since that one, I think we're in our 10th, about to be our 11th. So that was my whole goal was how do I contribute and still be able to be a mom full-time and help out on the ranch when I can? And for me, virtual assisting was the way in to being a completely remote at-home employee. And for our listeners, there's lots of different kinds of virtual assisting. You and my other main client allow me to work my own hours. Um, I don't have to be on call, so if I am Sometimes I'm writing posts for you at 5 in the morning or at 10 at night and scheduling them. I don't have to be available to be on the phone with tiny children, you know, which is key. You're very flexible, for which I'm very grateful. But that has, it's been like a little bit of a lifesaver, to be honest, because that was a really hard chunk of life right there.

Yeah, for sure. And so since then you've actually added another child to the mix too. You had.

Yeah, now I have 3.

It's, um, okay, so I'm going to touch on a few things that you talked about. First of all, it comes back to me, like, I think about this and I remember making that post and just feeling like, okay, this is a group of women that they might have some connections. So the first thing is, if, well, A, if you need this kind of support in your business, so we can get into like kind of what you do for me, it's different than what you do for your other clients, and that's cool too. But I think sometimes we limit the way we think about it, right? Like, if I can't hire this person and they don't live right here, you know, I didn't need somebody to answer telephones. Like, that's not a thing for me. So being able to be super flexible was easy for me. But I also think sometimes when we have a business where we put these weird kind of parameters or handcuffs on ourselves because we think, you know, it's like you can be actually quite flexible and still get great results. And I think that's something that can be hard for people, this whole concept of like remote work can feel really, really strange. So that's one thing. The second thing is the courage that you had to just like say, hey, now you had never specifically done virtual assisting, I had never had a virtual assistant. So you and I had to be extremely open, extremely honest, and like, this feels good to me, does this feel good to you? And just constantly have the openness to say like, if either one of us at any time ever feels like we're not getting what we expected, you know, results-wise on my end or financially on your end, workload balancing, all of that. I mean, it was just like a constant negotiation at first, right? And like, if we could give anybody tips about that, like how we navigate— because I think we navigated it really well, I really do. And again, the fact that we've never met is just like confounding to my brain because you're a very important person to me. Right. And I think like we've sent each other gifts and you've had babies. Like, it's just one of my favorite things. Like, it's been such a cool thing about this whole business. And then I launched Growing Small Towns while you were doing virtual assisting for me because I had the podcast prior to that. And you've been just right alongside me all the way. And it's just so, it's so special to me. Right. So what would you say to somebody, you know, about how Maybe how we navigated it, and some of it for us might have just been a natural fit, but there's still good things people can take away from that, right?

Yes. I think, I don't know if I would've dove in so hard into the remote work pool if you hadn't been my first boss, because you're right, neither one of us knew what we were doing, right? But being open about your limitations and your skills and what you're able to learn and what you want to do. Like if you had said, I would like you to make phone calls for me, I would have said, ain't gonna work. That's, uh, I can't, I mean, I can't do that well, not in this season, not in the season of tiny children. And listeners, my oldest is now 8 and my youngest is 3 and a half. And then there's one in the middle. So it's still very loud. They're being occupied. My husband is, we're rained out today. So he's staying home, which is why we're able to do this without shrieking in the background. But I think being super flexible and open about, from the employee side, from the assistant side, what you can do, what you're able to do, both in terms of time and workload, which may change season to season, especially if you are someone who is hiring a parent, or in our case, an agricultural family. Understand that there are going to be some seasons that are going to be crazier than others, and giving people grace is really key. You've never, I mean, I'm sure there's been times where like I haven't done something quite on time, or I know, you know, I've missed a post or something because of internet and you've never gotten angry with me. And so it's always made me feel really comfortable to say, hey, Rebecca, we have this thing that has occurred and don't worry, I'm going to get this done. It's just not going to be in our usual timeline. Or, and then it makes it easier for me when you're like, is there any chance we can get this podcast ready for Monday? I'm going to be like, heck yes, we're going to find a way. So it has to be a very open relationship on both sides, in my experience. And not every relationship with clients is exactly like yours and mine, but yours— our relationship taught me how to establish boundaries. And it's important to not take on more than you're able to do, even if you have all the skills.

Uh-huh.

For sure. You may not have all the time. You may not, like, even if it's something you can do, right? Sometimes it's better to say, I am not going to be able to do that well at this time.

Right.

And it's also perfectly fine on your end to say, hey, this is a priority. Can we find a way to get this done? Because that signals to me, it's on me. I need to do it. So I think just being really open to— and we've changed how we've done things. So being open to change, being open to— I think if you try to hold on too hard to these things, it makes it very complicated and Not everybody is suited to work at home. This has worked out really well for me because of how my own brain functions and I can set my own schedules and I am an introvert, so I don't need to be around a ton of people all the time. Right.

Yeah.

As we learned from the pandemic, remote work is not suited for all personality types. That being said, like Danielle talked about in our podcast last week, the pandemic, one of the best things to come out of COVID is the rise of people understanding how remote works. And how having a remote employee can help you find exactly the right person even if they don't live near you. I've never met any of my clients ever. Yeah, none. I mean, I host a podcast with somebody that I've never met in real life, like, that's— and it's kind of strange, and I want to make sure I meet all these people, but COVID has allowed us— the connectivity is so much better than it used to be. Like, wouldn't you say that we now have way more tools to do our jobs than we did 5 years ago. Like, we were having Zoom calls before Zoom calls were cool, right? And now, you know, right, and scheduling posts and doing social media. And so I think the key there is flexibility and being really, really clear about what you want on the employer side and then what you're able to do from the employee side. And also understanding that it may not work forever. Or it may look different as we've had several iterations of what I do for you in whatever season we're in. So, right.

I think what's interesting about the employer side is how common it is to have like really strong feelings or opinions about how something should be, but that it lives only in your brain and you don't know how to communicate it or you don't communicate it, right? So, and this is any employer-employee, and you're not my employee, you are a contractor, right? So that's the other thing I want people to understand, like I didn't W-2 you. We kind of went through this conversation right at the beginning, like how to do this. But I think any situation where it's like maybe an owner and either a contractor or an employee, it's that desire for them just to get it without explicitly saying it. And that's a mistake. You know, like if you have a strong sense of what you want done, just be clear about that. Then they win, they feel good, you get what you want, you feel good. And that's the thing too. If at any point, throughout the time we've been together, if there's ever been something that I'm like, okay, here's what I think, here's what I would change, and here's why. And all of those conversations we had early on have helped us get to a point where there are times, Cass, that you write something. So now that everybody is hearing this, I'm just— it's like, here's our dirty little secret. I record the content. Cassidy, all the stuff that gets written, from these podcasts is written by you. And I swear to the good Almighty above, there have been times that I've read your posts and I was like, I didn't write that, but it sounds exactly like the things I would say. And so that's, for me, has been so much fun because I'm so confident in your ability, like, to maintain my voice By my voice, I just mean like the kind of the irreverence. There's a little bit of snarkiness. Like I have a sense of humor. I will always want that to be part of how, you know, what our copy sounds like. And that's just been so refreshing and so cool because it takes effort to get there. We got there quickly, I think, but that is partially just due to your immense skillset. So I love that about us. Like, it's really, really special to me.

Me too. I love it too. I will say, I think one of the reasons I can do that, that is a skill that I have, but it's also because we chat. Like, we talk. Because I've had several clients that I have gotten for either, because now I can do some social media management, because they like my writing style, which is similar to, I mean, we're both a little irreverent and sarcastic and, you know, just kind of keep things light even when they're serious. But because we can talk to one another and have conversations about something other than what's on the docket that week, it makes it easier for me to write like that. And that's a really good example of a time when having a remote employee might be the best fit because you may not have somebody in your small community who can write the way you want them to or who can create the kind of graphics that you're looking for. Because, you know, a lot of the work that virtual assistants and remote contractors do is creative, right? You know, and a lot of it is, you know, there is some— I have friends who do some bookkeeping and that kind of thing. But when we're talking about a virtual assistant that goes beyond admin, it is very creative and it's very specific. It may not be specific like in the job, because especially in my experience, once the assistant relationship has been built, more and more gets added, usually because you know the company, you know what's happening. You see where you can help and how you can simplify the process, or you learn a new skill. Like finally, for one of my clients, I got tired of sending our podcasts off, so now I edit them myself because I got tired of waiting for the dude. And I just, because I'm a control freak. But that's a really good example of a time when looking outside of your small town might actually be a great choice. And for what it's worth, I also live in a small town and I know lots of other, especially ranch wives, cuz that's my circle. Who are virtual assistants or work remotely, and it has saved us. There are lots of families who would not be financially solvent if it was not for remote work. I'm not exaggerating at all.

Yep. No, I believe that entirely. And I, so to help people also think about, like, as I listen to us, you know, I'm like reflecting, I'm kind of out of body as I'm listening to us thinking like, this could come off as super annoying. Like, oh, well, good for you too. Yeah. You know, like it could. Good for you too. You figured it out. Here's what I want people to know because the interview process, there's air quotes around that for people listening, it really was just an honest conversation because something that matters deeply to me is who I'm doing work with. I wanted to know your character. I wanted to hear you speak to me, right? Like, so how you carry yourself, how you showed up even over Zoom, right? How you talked about your family, how you talked about your husband, how you talked about your life. How you talked about your struggles. Like, we went there immediately, right? So for me, and again, I think sometimes some of this isn't like a be more like me, but it's simply an encouragement to maybe approach your challenges with a different lens, right? So I think sometimes we tell ourselves we have to hire X, Y, and Z skills. And my argument I basically hang my hat on this, like, professionally, right? When I work with corporate clients, when I work in our community development, I simply would suggest that maybe instead it's about hiring a person with the right character.

Mm-hmm.

That fits with you. You know, do they care about the same things? Do they have personality traits that complement yours? You know, is there enough overlap where you have some synergy, but then they round things out that you don't have? If they have to have a commitment to detail. It's less about the specific skill because if enough of those personality and character traits align, they're going to have the intrinsic motivation to figure out the pieces that they don't know. And then you work that out in that initial kind of— and I'm not even gonna call it onboarding. It's just when we first start working together, we start to get a rhythm, right? For the needs that I have, which ones feel easy for you to fill., right? And it was just a constant kind of negotiation of those things to begin with. But I knew I wanted to work with you because I genuinely liked you right from the start. And I do think we discount that too much. I do. I think we like, we think about it just so, okay, again, it's like geeking out about this stuff cuz this stuff just to me, this translates across context. This is a business thing. When we're bringing somebody on board, whether you're in a big employer, you know, or it's just you're a single person and you hire a VA. It doesn't matter what the context is, right? But we often think about the job description. So it's like, here's what you have to do. And it's like, check, check, check, check, and check. Well, okay, fine. That's the what of the job. But then this other whole half, or maybe more, I mean, if you're asking me, it's definitely more, kind of the why and how you do the job. It's the behaviors, it's the personality, it's the attitudes. It's the motivation. It's kind of the unwritten stuff. Figure out what that has to look like for you, because, you know, again, there are certain types of people that I know I can't hire because I don't— and by types of people, I mean there's certain personality traits that I just, I can't work with. So it wouldn't matter if you were the best at a specific skill, I would never hire you. Okay, so people need to think like that. And that's kind of a broadening of— to me, an opening of a way to think about what you need to hire. So I don't know if you have any thoughts about that, but that's partly, you know, our interview was like us just getting to know each other, and I got done with it and I was like, totally want to work with this person. And it was awesome.

And it was— I remember that very well. I was like, oh my gosh, yes, like somebody who understands. And that was a really interesting phase of my life too, because if you have had children, especially if you're a woman, you know, there's a time in there when you lose yourself. And then when somebody shows up that's like, I would love for you to be on my team, even though you are living in the messy part of having tiny babies, it's like, I'm not worthless. Like, I'm not— I still have my old— like, I'm still there. But it's funny that you said all that because one of my other VA clients has a podcast where he interviews CEOs, and that is one of the most common things that CEOs say, because he asks them, you know, what do you hire for? And they say, I can teach skills. I need the right value fit, personality fit, and all that. Those are all soft skills. Those are really hard things to interview for. But I think we can all think of a time when we've been with a person, not even necessarily in a work setting, where we're like, there's nothing wrong with this person. They're just aggravating. I don't like them. They just don't vibe. Right. You know, there's something about, and that makes it really different or difficult to have a VA relationship, because in my experience, a lot of people who hire VAs or remote contractors or small businesses who probably don't need that person full-time, who need to take some of the things off their own plates that either they don't enjoy or are not worth their time to do. Like, it is, you know, you get to a point in your business where it's not worth your time to answer emails of certain kinds. You need to be doing something like creating the podcast and someone else is making the post and the blogs. Or you're a big picture person and you hire people to do the details, to think through the plans of the marketing or whatever it is. So that relationship is often a lot closer than people are used to. And this person is working for you from their home. And so there's kind of a line that can feel a little fuzzy. It obviously depends on who your person is. Like, I know people who have built an entire business around being a contract remote employee and they have an office space. But a lot of us are people doing this part-time because we have children, we are farmers, we are ranchers, we have some other thing that takes up the bulk of our time, right? But we still want to either use our brains or serve a business that we love and believe in. Like, I love growing small towns, or we need to earn a little money. People don't want to talk about that. Like, sometimes you just, you flat need a job because you need to make money. And so I think that's a very good tip, is that You know, maybe you go out there thinking, I need someone to manage these certain aspects of my business, my social or my email list, or just the stuff that does not bring you joy. Because when you get to a certain place in your business as an entrepreneur, you know what does not bring you joy. And if you can hire it out, do it, everybody. If that's something you can farm out, then do it. Yeah.

And start small. Like, seriously, start small and farm out little bits at a time. And that is so liberating and so freeing. And it's also, it eases some of the loneliness. Yes. Because you actually do care about growing small towns. Mm-hmm. You know, and again, as much as me, no, no one's ever gonna care about growing small towns as much as I do. That's again, like for all of those running a business, like we have to get over ourselves. Like our business is cool. Yep. It's amazing. No one will care as much, but we can find people. That actually do get committed. And then they become truly dedicated to what we're trying to do. And then again, it's that whole idea of the new thing that gets created when two people come together and they have a shared vision. It's all new stuff that, like, I wouldn't ever think about on my own gets to get created because you're working with somebody that's also dedicated and committed. It's— that's the magic, I guess.

It's nice.

It's special.

And if you go for personality and compatibility over— not necessarily over skills, but along with skills— now you have someone who can brainstorm with you, that you can bounce ideas off of. And maybe that's not what you're looking for. Maybe that's not the relationship that you want, in which case, yeah, it's totally fine. Yeah, totally fine. Yeah. But in my experience, a lot of people actually are looking for that. They're looking for somebody for feedback or to say, I think we can make this process easier by doing these things. Or have you ever thought about, because they're on, you know, they're in your business with you. And even if it's only a chunk of it, you know, I think that's a really valuable relationship and it also enables people to learn skills and do things that they may not have otherwise had a chance to learn, which then also gives them ownership over what they're doing for you, you know, because, and then they kind of get invested and just having that open relationship 2, also means that I'm not afraid to tell you things like, oh my gosh, I scheduled that post for Tuesday instead of Monday. I'm so sorry, fixing it now. Or, hey, we are processing calves all next week. I have everything scheduled, but I won't be available to, you know, right, everything is ready to go, but I won't be answering email until night, as opposed to a person who is maybe not as gracious. And then you really lose some of the value. In that relationship. And if you're listening to this and you're like, ugh, I don't really love people and I don't really do feelings, you can still find people that vibe with that because there are people who exist who don't wanna sit here and talk about their whole life story, but they do wanna say, Dan, here are my deliverables and there they are. And you say, awesome, cool. And that might be the whole deal. That might be the whole thing of it. That's right.

And that's what I want people to take away from this is the kind of incredible friendship camaraderie and professional just awesomeness that can actually be created online. It may not sound anything like you and I, but the synergy and how we got there is what we're trying to articulate, right? Because if you are extremely analytical and you have very clear paths of, like you said, things that you need to just— you've sliced them out, you know exactly what the process looks like. You can and will find people that will take that all day long. Like, minimal interaction.

I have clients like that that I work with.

Right. And so I think it's more just about recognizing the incredible power that we all have now because of all of the advancements in technology, all the ways that we can connect. And so I am like, Facebook groups can be kind of a double-edged sword. I mean, no question. We know that. So can all the social media. But if you're looking for something like this or you're trying to figure out how to get into something like this, like, look at where you already hang out and where those groups of people might be that there's some trust built. And, like, I just want to encourage people to open their minds up to this a little bit because it's— yes, it's been an incredible gift to me to have you as a part of this team.

And it—

I mean, it's just always so much fun. And now we have Bailey here locally, and so we're the ones taking a road trip. Just in case anybody's curious, we're coming down. We're going to take Bailey's party bus. We're going to come and we're going to visit you.

It's going to be great. Oh, it's going to be awesome. It's going to be awesome. And I agree, it's been great for me too. And I was having a conversation with somebody the other day about sales, and a lot of people feel like they're not good at sales. They don't want to be salesy. But she and I were talking about what if you changed it to a service? And this was specifically for bulls and semen. So different than what we are talking about.

Bulls and semen, friends.

Yes, I'm a bull and semen rep, in case anyone's wondering. I have many jobs, like many ranch wives, ranch women.

Can you just real quick, because there may actually be people listening to this that are like, wait, that's a thing.

Oh, yeah.

So instead of just glossing over bull and semen, like you just were like, Bam! Like right over.

Yeah. Just quick little side, real quick.

Like what exactly is that? What does it mean to be a rep for that? What are you doing?

What is happening? I am a rep for Leachman Cattle of Colorado, which is one of the biggest seedstock growers in the United States. We have reps all over the country and sales all over the country. So what I do is I help people find bulls, like bulls for their beef herd that fit what they need. And that's, and to me it's not sales, it's a service. It's the juice.

Yeah.

And then if you would prefer to not have the live animal, I can get you semen, but it's very much a part-time side hustle. But now I run their social media too. We've just started a new partnership because I'm doing some, some like a deep dive into storytelling and testimonials and really sharing with people what this brand is because it's the coolest company. We've worked for several other seed stock growers and this one's great. So it's creative and it's a service. And so. What I was going to, you know, before we started talking about semen, like, throw that word down in the middle of Denver.

And I just, I love it.

I think it's— do you mean like men in the Navy? And I'm like, oh no, I mean, I mean, a part of the men in the Navy if we're getting—

okay.

So anyway, but I think if you think about what you do as a service, right? You know, because I do— sure, I write your posts, you know, but I also am on board with you because I am helping a nonprofit in a small town do really cool things. I am part of that team and I, as I've gone along this remote work journey, I have now changed in my brain what I do as I'm a virtual assistant to this. These are the services I provide. I'm a communicator. That's what I do. Other people are going to be bookkeepers and really cool creative accountants that are going to help you on the money side of your business. Other people are literally artists and can create beautiful graphics or logos or, you know, there's so many ways to do this. But I think when we shift it in our brains to provide a thing to, I am part of a team that is doing a service. What I do is I help my clients XYZ. It can change the vibe, for lack of a better word. I don't know, lack of a better word. I just like that word. So if you are sitting here listening to this and you're like, there are people, there are services that I need. That I want, you know, because people all the time ask me, how do I get a remote assistant job or a remote work job? How do I become a virtual assistant or how do I find one? Literally put it into the world that you are looking for this thing and you can be as—

whether you're the seeker of the service or you're the provider of the service, either way you have to make it known.

Mm-hmm.

Either what you need or what you do.

As specific as you want, or as— because your post was not super specific. You were like, I'm looking for somebody to help me with some stuff.

That's pretty much exactly what it was.

Yeah. And here are some ideas, sort of, but I'm not really sure. And maybe you're looking for someone to say, I, you know, maybe you need 3 blog posts a week. I need you to edit and transcribe my podcast.

Like, right.

You can be as specific or not, but if you're sitting here and this is in your brain, get it out of your brain in whatever circles that you're already in. Put it on LinkedIn, put it on Facebook, put it on Instagram, because a lot of the people who are maybe gonna be the best fit for you are already in your orbit and you may not know it. Or they're like me and they're like, gosh, I didn't even know this was a thing. And now it's totally a thing. 5 years ago it was like the very beginning of the thing.

I know we were like trailblazers and we didn't even know it.

I know. I was too tired to know it.

Right. And I think the other thing that's really cool, Cass, about what you've kind of articulated here is that this little remote opportunity 5 years ago has really dovetailed into some cool things for you to continue to build on, continue to grow. And still build around your life.

Yes.

Like, your life has gotten more complicated. I mean, let's be real. Like, you added a whole child in this period of time, and then they grew, and then you moved, and then you've had parent stuff. Like, your life continues to go, and you've stuck with me through all of this, added clients, dropped clients, picked up different work, and every I think what I love so much about your part of this journey is the learning that you've allowed yourself to experience and the growing, the intentional growth that you have experienced by taking on these challenges. And like, you've been experimenting all along the way. And I think the problem with a lot of people and how we think about these things, whether you're starting a business or you're gonna be a side hustler or whatever, is that we think that there's one right way to do any of it.

No.

Right? There's, there's not. There's just absolutely not. And so we go like, oh, I just need to, like, read one more book. Or, okay, this guru, this guru put this class out or this course out, and I'm gonna take it, and then I'm gonna learn. Or I'm gonna go back to school before I do the thing. Now, unless you need a degree to actually do the services that you wanna do, just start.

Mhmm.

Like, I get how trite that sounds. Like, I, but I say this all the time. Like, you wanna do a service, find one person that needs that service and do it for them. And then they'll be like, well, how much do I charge? I don't know, work it out, figure it out, what feels good to you, what feels like marketable to them, have a conversation with them. If you're both taking a chance on each other, that conversation is actually pretty easy. That's what it was for us.

Mhm.

And it was very much like, Cass, like, this is what I think I can afford, I don't want to insult you. How do you feel about it? And we just went back and forth and we were just honest about it. So I think sometimes it's this paralysis of— it's the fear of just like, if I don't know exactly what I'm doing, then am I equipped and am I this and am I that? As long as you're honest about those things, you're as qualified as the next person. And it's up to the person hiring you to say, hey, I'm cool with this. And if they're not, they'll move on and they'll hire somebody that's more like established, right? I don't know what you think about that. You've had such a fun journey to watch. It's been so cool, like, and I'm just so damn proud of you, truly. Like, not just because of what you do for me— I mean, because you do great work for me— but just how I've seen you evolve. It's absolutely the coolest.

I appreciate that so much. And I also want to point out to listeners that I stuck with Rebecca, sure, but she also stuck with me, friends, through some truly alarming seasons of surviving, not thriving, if you will. But I think, you know, I am one of those people, I get analysis paralysis. We've talked about the Enneagram. We've talked about the Enneagram on this podcast. I am a 1. I'm a very strong 1. So I want to do everything perfect.

Right.

So, and being a VA has really helped me get over some of that because you're not gonna do everything perfect all the time. It's taught me how to say, I'm so sorry, I made a mistake. Let me fix it. And you've always been very gracious. And I think what I do has evolved. I do lots of things for different people. I charge lots of different rates because I can, because there are some clients who are grandfathered in. There are some companies that I believe in more than others. I'm also a speaker. It's kind of like when I speak for a big for-profit situation, I'm going to charge them more than if I'm speaking for a small nonprofit. Right, because it's a whole different deal. So you can mess with your rates. My consulting fees are very different from my VA fees, and it's all about evolving what works for you. And I know that feels a little woo, but you just have to dive in to kind of figure out what you're going to do in this space because it's very limitless.

Yeah.

And that's just—

that's the key to this, like, to me, is that you can read all the books, you could read every book ever written about how to run a successful anything. And, like, there's a chance that a good percentage of it's not gonna apply at all because it's not you. The person who wrote the book doesn't even have your, like, really anything. I mean, that's why this matters just so much. And I'm so glad we're having this conversation because it's a real-life example, right? Like, you and I, we've actually lived through this together. I lived in front of 1,800 people. You lived at— when I hired you the first time, you were 90 miles from Walmart. Yeah, it's honestly kind of hilarious when you think about it, but I think it's so cool to think about how limitless it actually is. That's all I try to articulate through what we, through what we share on this podcast is just that if you feel like your life is small because you're in a small town, that is a self-made construct, period.

Yeah. So the other day, case in point. LinkedIn is where I live for social. I'm an advocate for agriculture. And so I was sitting in Ronald Reagan Airport in DC on Friday because I had just spoken at a big conference. I had just gotten off the phone with my bull company because I had a big bull order that I needed to get put through so we could get those bulls delivered. I was downloading something for you so I could work on it on the plane. I had another client emailing me stuff. I was working on some other stuff. For Leachman, for Social. And then I had, I also, like every ranch woman, I do direct sales for fun. And so I had those orders coming in and it was like, it was this moment of, this is what I have prayed for. This is a very multifaceted business.

That's super cool.

I mean, it really was after I found the perfect gifts for the boys. Everybody got a tiny diecast Air Force One in case you're wondering. Oh, that's fantastic. They were really good toys, but it was one of those things. But it's also, I have a really hard time. Looking back because I'm a 1, I can't stop improving and nothing is ever good enough. So I've tried to really make a practice of looking back and seeing where things are working. And I'm like, this is what I prayed for. These are all things that I enjoy doing. I'm doing them on my own time and I'm being flexible about it. And am I a little stressed out? Yes. I have a lot of deadlines that need to be met, but good thing I have 4 hours on a plane and I'm gonna get all this done. And so it's not without stress. It's not always joyful. But you can absolutely build or have a business that makes you content, that, you know, that brings you joy in a lot of ways, completely online. Whether you are a person on your end, your entire— I mean, I work for people whose entire teams are remote and you can get VAs from other countries who do different things. And it really enables—

we should give a shout out to Dave, my podcast engineer.

Shout out to Dave.

Halfway around the world.

Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh. So, yeah.

It's just—

it's, you know, it's not that I haven't intentionally shared any of this with our listeners, but it's just—

It's behind the scenes.

It's behind the scenes, but it's fascinating. Right? Like, because it's just everything is so open to us. Yeah. And I think sometimes what I can appreciate too is that when things are limitless, it can literally feel like if I step out there, I'm just gonna float away. Like into the abyss, right?

Because it's so—

it can be so hard, but you have to stay grounded too, like, as you go.

Grabbing your proverbial life buoy, right, of what you know you're good at. Like, I don't do math for people, I do words.

I don't— you know, some people— I do words, not math.

Yeah, some people have said, like, would you be interested in doing some bookkeeping? And I'm like, not no, but hell no. Like, how fast can I run away from that question that you just asked me? Like, I just got a full body Anyway, and so, yes, I shared. And the whole point I want your listeners to hear is that, so I've evolved from a VA doing a few hours a week, and now we're back to cutting back on hours because we're in a small bunkhouse for the summer and it is western out here, you guys. Like, but once we have childcare and kids in school this fall, I can grow my business. I can get more clients. You will be, you know, and as your business has grown, you have added more people. And all from teeny tiny towns, guys. Like we are at a 3A school, which I know for some of you might actually be pretty big with one class per grade. Like that's how big this little town is that we live near, right? Not in, but near. And you don't have to feel like a big fish in a small pond. Like because of remote work, our ponds are now huge.

Mm-hmm.

And I get to talk to people all over the world and all over the country. I get to do a little traveling, and I get to do all of this and still be a mom. And is it easy? No. Is it stressful? Yes, sometimes. Am I up at— you know, people at the conference are like, when do you work? And I'm like, sometimes at 5 AM. Like, yeah, I'm a morning person sometimes, but I want to do it. It's a choice.

Yeah, exactly. This conversation isn't meant to like strong-arm people that are lazy and no, I mean, not lazy, like If you're a lazy person and that's your MO, do it, man. Good on you. I almost don't know. I don't know the decompression mode.

I don't know what that is. We're both very high-strung work people. It's such a whole thing.

But I think it's more to the people that feel like their opportunities are limited or their ability to do something. Because like you said, you just were like, I just want to use my brain. There are so many people like that. There's so many underemployed people right now.

Yep.

Like right now.

Or who have some constraints, like maybe they're rural, maybe they're a parent. Exactly.

Maybe it's too expensive to have kids in childcare. That's a real thing for sure.

And that was for us. It would have— because ranch hands don't make any money. Ranch managers still don't make very much money. And maybe this— and I think we're both trying to say this is whatever you want it to be, however big or however small. You can be an artist or a graphic designer or people— I have friends who are musicians who make like podcast themes for people, or who design like, you know, they make the soundtrack for like a documentary, all from home. And that's wacky to a lot of people. Not all industries can do this, and this doesn't work for everybody. But if you're listening to this and you're like, I would love some help, like, unless that's a service that is provided in your home or in your place of you can find it. I promise. I promise you'll find it. Totally. Um, and it probably won't look like the relationship we have, but— or maybe it will, I don't know. I hope more people have a relationship like the one that we have. Yeah, but I mean, good on you because it's pretty awesome. It's great. But I mean, working for you has changed my life, and I know that I am a valuable member of your team, but that looks a million different ways, you know? And so I think we're both trying to say like, you could do this and it could be awesome in whatever way awesome looks to you, right?

And you can just like, just start, just start, just start, you know, put out your vibes.

Like, I am tired of writing my own Facebook posts. I do not want to do this thing. I'm looking for a logo. I'm looking for somebody to answer my emails.

I'm looking for somebody to write me a customized podcast intro, right? Like, if that's the thing, right? And you're looking for a musician. And that's the other thing, it's both parts. So like, employers, be willing to say what it is you need. People with random pants skills, please be willing to say what it is that you can do because it's so fun when— like, I literally, as I'm listening to us again, kind of having these, like, basically there's never a time where I'm not, like, generating new thoughts about how we could do new, more things. Like, it's always more, and it's so exhausting in my brain. But I was thinking, like, having a universal matchmaking system, like, wouldn't that be rad if Again, someone will be like, that's— I'm doing it, and they're gonna like hook us all up. I don't know, LinkedIn is the closest that exists, I think. You know, if you can see like, these are the things that I do, and someone can go out and search those things. But seriously, like, no matter how weird and nichey and, you know, like specific your—

the internet thrives on the niche.

It does, it does. I mean, you want to be found, do something that everyone else does, but for a really weird audience. Like, it was just like, yeah, continue to like ratchet down until it's so weird and specific and then the people that need that will find you. So it's just kind of an amazing thing.

Or even post it on your personal Facebook, or if you have a business that has a Facebook page, post it. Like, I remember Farm Babe on Facebook posted, I cannot keep up with my comments or my messages. I need to hire someone to do this thing. And she's like, here's my email, send me your stuff. And people did. And it wasn't a formal, like, I would like to submit this job. You know, it's not on LinkedIn like you're posting a job unless you want to do that and that's fine. It can really just be, I'm looking for this thing, put it out in the universe and see what happens. Because there's probably people in your small town who have those skills that you don't even know, or maybe in the next county or maybe in a completely different state. But I guarantee somebody can do what you want them to do, or they can work with you to build a way.

Yeah, yeah.

Figure it out and they'll be a partner if that's what you're looking for. Or maybe you are saying, I wanna pay somebody $20 an hour so I can talk to them and they can take my gigantic ideas and put them into a tiny little idea and then some bullet points. You know, I do that for people. Like, here's what you said to me, here's what I think we can do about it.

Right.

You know?

Yeah. Yeah.

Which coaches do that too. There's all kinds of coaching available for these things, friends.

Right. 100%.

Yeah. And like you said, just start. And if you have questions about how to do a VA thing, I think we can both probably field some of those. Right.

Guess what? Cass will put them in the show notes.

Yes, I will. I will put those in the show notes. And when I write the post for this episode, please just comment. On a pose or send us a DM.

Well done, Cassidy. It's super funny. It's kind of meta. It's very meta today. Like the fact that, yeah, we're talking about the work and then you're going to do the work. It's awesome. But friend, you have blessed my life beyond expectation.

Yeah.

You've become a friend that I can't imagine not having in my life. And I want that level of just kind of shared admiration, shared vision, and shared benefit for more people because it is possible.

And if you've hired somebody— especially in small towns where you may not vibe with everybody—

hired somebody and you've been burned, that doesn't mean that every interaction— just keep going.

No, it means people are people.

That's 100%, right? Just keep going. So I appreciate you so much. Thank you so much for coming on and talking about your whole experience, you have grown so much in 5 years. And we're all— the world at large is better off for Cassidy Johnston's awesomeness.

Well, thank you. That's very nice. And we are all— from my perspective, it has been really fun to watch the growth that is happening. And I am going to make it to Oaks, if only to go to the dang fudge shop. Shout out to the fudge shop where you send me things from.

Right across the street.

Yes. I mean, that's probably my number one jealousy of you being in that building right now is you can just walk across the street get fudge.

I can, I can. Right over there. Yeah.

Shout out to the fudge. So I think we can all agree that this has been a mutually beneficial relationship.

We want this for more people, so get after it, friends.

Yeah. And if you need help, you just send us a comment on the post I'm going to write next week and we will help you.

This is perfect. Okay. You, uh, you have to come back, you know, because you're not letting go of me, obviously, right?

Yeah. We're stuck together.

We kind of are. Okay, thanks so much, friend.

Yep.

Bye. Bye.