Why I love being a Virtual Assistant with Andre Dagoc and Jo Alfonso

Foreign.

Podcast, Rockstars. I am pumped for today's episode. We have as part of our AI versus virtual assistant season, two virtual assistants. One that we work with, who serves an outpatient practice in New Hampshire with multiple locations, and another virtual assistant who's on my direct team. And we're interviewing them to get behind the curtain and understand every aspect of what it's like to be a virtual assistant. What are the highs, the lows, the challenges? What's it like working with Americans? All the different things that we don't think about when we talk about virtual assistants. And we're also going to get their take of artificial intelligence. Are they scared by it? Do they use it? How do those things go together in the future? We're going to answer all these questions and more and more and get to know some real heart of the humanity behind the future of healthcare. Let's go. I have met the best leaders with zero formal training in the Philippines because they have focus and they have heart. So when you're hiring, whether it's the Philippines or not, and especially if you're like, considering ever going to the Philippines to not find someone who's going to do the silly things that you don't want to do and be worried about the accent.

All right, well, Andre and Joe, welcome to the Willpower podcast. Let's have you guys introduce yourselves right out of the gate. Tell us about you and what you do professionally.

Okay, I'm gonna start it up. So. Hi, guys. My name is Joe. I'm a front office manager working remotely and leading a team of 14 Filipino virtual assistants supporting five physical therapy clinics in New Hampshire. What we do on a daily basis, we do patient scheduling, billing, follow ups, insurance verification, and some more. So we are pretty passionate about streamlining healthcare operations while maintaining personal relations to our patients and to our co workers in the U.S. very nice.

That was very professional. Joe, before we go to Andre, tell me about you personally. Tell me about, tell them about your family and maybe some success that you had that we were talking about.

Okay, well, I am a single mom to a, well now going to college daughter, which I'm pretty exciting. Bittersweet. I live with my mom.

I'm just a simple girl who just loves cooking. When I'm not working, I also sing and play musical instruments as my, you know, side psyching.

You have such a great voice. I want the audience to understand that when we get all of our team together. There was one time I challenged you to sing and you did in front of the group and it Was like rec professional level was so good. I love that, Joe. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Filipino Andre also has a really good voice even though you did country when we did karaoke. Andre, tell. Introduce yourself, please.

Okay. So. Hey guys. My name is Andre. I am. I would say I'm a recruiter. My profession. I've had six years of experience recruiting. Initially, I would say career wise. I've started out as a healthcare recruiter, like actually recruiting healthcare providers in the United States, matching them with opportunities. But recently I've shifted. So I've spent the last year with Virtual Rockstar, connecting amazing talents in the Philippines with opportunities that would otherwise be available locally.

Well, I love that. Now tell me about you personally.

Me personally? I would say, ooh, where do I even start?

I'll tell you where to start. Talk about you being a leader and entrepreneur because your vision is like to own a business one day, tell them about your ambition.

Yep. So every day I wake up with a burning desire to conquer the world.

So true.

I just do. There's like the world is ripe for the taking and if I don't get up and get after, it feels like it's a wasted opportunity. So whatever opportunity I see, I just take it. And one day I envision of owning my own.

Owning my own business, doing. Being in the same space, doing similarly with will.

I'd say interests wise. There are a lot of interests. I also, I'm very interested in music. I played in a lot of bands before I. Before I was working and I like Star Wars. I. Yeah.

I like a lot of things, man. I don't even know where to start.

So yeah, I think that's a good intro, Andre. I just want people to get a sense of you.

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I think it's gonna get better than that.

He nailed it.

Let's get right into the nitty gritty because right now their minds are being blown. They're like, wait a minute. People who've Never worked with VAs are thinking, wow, they speak perfect English and da da, da, da. Because all the things that are like stigmas. But what got you guys into being a va? Let's get into the background for the rockstars as to like, why did you choose this profession, Rockstars? As a. As a just obvious like side note. Joe is a virtual assistant for Virtual Rockstar who works for a client of ours. And Andre is on my core team working to help find the virtual assistants. I thought it'd be really useful for people to understand the perspectives and see the humanity in this because when people think about virtual assistants, they often think about being outsourced overseas, not understanding what's being said, lower customer service, and that's quite the opposite. But let's get into why. Why did you become a virtual assistant and what drives you from a place of passion? Those might be two separate things, Joe, but let's start with you. Why did you become a VA and then what drives you from a place of passion?

Okay, well, for the longest time I worked for a corporate company though it's a BPO company for Australian clients. And then come pandemic, all the offices has shut down. Didn't have much option. So I tried and ventured into the VA world. Though I heard about a lot of stuff about it, I didn't really had a chance because I thought that working in a corporate is like somewhat stable, like give me a stable income. But then it blew my mind. When I have researched about being a va, not only the compensation is way much better than what I am getting when I was in a corporate world, but then I have the opportunity to work from home and spend more time with my family while earning more than what I was earning before. So that really hooked me up in learning more about the VA world and you know, just putting myself out there, sending all my resumes and applying. Luckily I stumbled upon Rockstar and it's history from there.

Oh, well, I appreciate that. It's such an interesting thing to see that motivation. So what drives you from a place of passion, Joe? Like what is it that you're passionate about?

Well, before I was put into the corporate world, I had took up a healthcare course, I took up nursing. But then because of the necessity, I didn't really, you know, pursue that passion. But when I had ventured into the medical virtual assistant world. I found a way of igniting that passion of helping people through healthcare. And like, even though I did not work as a nurse anymore, being able to spend time with patients, caring for them, talking to them over the phone and conversing, learning medical things through my physical therapist and the owner of my business has really ignited something in me. Like my, my 19 year old college self is being, you know, satisfied with what I am doing right now. So that's pretty awesome.

That's neat that your daughter is graduating and looking at becoming a nurse in college. So you, she's, you're fulfilling that healthcare passion and, and she's followed your lead. Joe, what a beautiful story and I love that. Andre, same question. Why did you become a VA and what drives you passionately?

Okay, so I'd say I, I became an offshore recruiter because I saw the untapped potential in staffing everywhere. Staffing is a problem for a lot of businesses and now especially that I'm working with virtual rockstar, especially from, from places like the Philippines, there are so many highly skilled, hard working professionals out there who just need the right platform and the right opportunity.

I wanted to be that bridge. There's a lot of business to be made there. It's also incredibly fulfilling to just connect people with roles that change their lives while helping businesses grow with the talent that they didn't even know that they needed.

Yeah, it's so true. And it's, it's a gift to be able to recruit the way that you do. And it's so cool that you can. You guys, rock stars, you hear that passion in their voices. It's something that we oftentimes get disconnected in when in the United States, when we're just trying to quote, find ourselves. At the end of the day, for both of you, there was a financial motivation just to give the rock star some context. The average Filipino makes between one and three dollars an hour with the typical local positions, even with some of these BPOs. And then the potential for earning of that is literally three to four times that. Even as they're working through an agency like you guys are currently doing. It's a powerful change in finance, but there's still this passion around what you found your passion in it, whether it's healthcare or building teams. In Andre's case, it's a really powerful thing. So I want to know, I would like for you guys to share. Let's go to Joe. What's a day in your life look like? Go with Joe on This one, because this is more typical of the audience of what they're going to hear. What is its typical date? Because you're over how many VAs now, Joe?

14.

So what does a day in the life of Joe look like at work?

Okay, well, first thing, my shift starts at 8:30 EST, so that's 8:30pm here in the Philippines, you start at 8:30 at night.

Locally. Got it.

Yeah, locally, that's right. But 30 minutes before. I already look into my messages, but because as a leader you have to check if your bas had something. If something has an emergency, you know, you need to make sure that you have coverage before the login time. So I do check that first thing. And then because I'm not traveling anymore, unlike before, like I have to wake up like three, two to three hours before to prep myself. I only needed 30 minutes of my time to maybe eat something, pull up my tools, ready my device, my computer and set up my office. And then, which is, well, very convenient if you might say. And then when I log in, I just go over my virtual assistants, check on the updates, check their attendance, have a meeting with my owners, connect with the PT managers and just do my random day to day task within those five clinics that I oversee.

That's amazing. You're running this whole team. So it's a very supervisory based role.

Yes.

That is such a cool thing. As you're going through this, you're living that passion of helping the healthcare companies grow and scale. I have a totally different question for Andre and I'm really curious about this one for you, bud. What is something that you do every day that the company owner, in this case me, has no idea that you're actually handling?

Well, I don't think you know that I put up a lot of buyers that are, they're just currently.

Starting up everywhere in the company. We are getting larger by the day. Not just.

I think per week. We are doing on average the TA team. We're doing like seven group interviews a week if I'm not mistaken. Six to seven group interviews. And that that number of BAs in our company is expanding rapidly. And there's just, I, I answer a lot of questions way beyond talent acquisition that I think if I can just solve this, I'm not going to go to Denise or Kayla about this. If I can just, if I can handle this, I'm just gonna answer it, you know, so I. Communication, it's, it's a big part of my job. Every, every single day. I read emails and there's a lot of emails there. Fires that need to be put out.

That's amazing. I can't thank you enough for handling that, Andre. To put it in context, audience, this year we're in June. We're filming this on June 6th, and it'll be released next month in July. And this year alone, we calculated that we've hired over a hundred virtual assistants so far this year. And so it's been. Yeah, that's a lot of work because there's this amazing team that. That you are a part of that is just crushing it. I didn't know that you're putting out fires left and right. Andre, thank you for doing that, man.

Yeah, I love it. Okay, so I have to ask you, when you first became VAs, what was it like adapting to the American culture? Was that. Were there cool things, challenges around that?

It's pretty cool because working with Americans is very different.

You guys are so straightforward in a good way for me, because it's all plain and simple. You know what see is what you get.

Challenges is, of course, before I. I didn't get much of your humor.

Like, are you talking about me personally or all of the Americans?

Why you personally? But just, you know, in general, like, if, you know my boss, Steve.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, when he says something, I have to pause and think if I have to laugh or not.

Quite some time to get his humor. But now we're pretty much okay. I do get his humor. So that's all good.

That's amazing. That's amazing. What about you, Andre?

Well, me personally, since I grew up very westernized, being exposed to a lot of American media, video games, movies, and TV shows, I did not have such a hard time adapting to it. And I also have. I actually have an American friend that I speak with almost every day. So I guess it's not as hard for me to make an adjustment to it, especially since I've already been exposed to it and I've got a lot of relatives in America, but definitely there is, like, that little transition into, oh, am I. Is this appropriate to say? Is this. Is this crossing the line? Because sometimes Filipinos were really, really loose in our conversation. You know, we say a lot of stuff that would be considered taboo in American culture. So it's. It's definitely something. You have to think twice before saying that. But over the years, I've gotten accustomed to it. Like, what to say, what not to say.

Yeah, that's interesting, Andre. I almost want to ask you on air what those things are, but we'll. We'll get Privately as to what those taboo things are. But for now, I, you know, I'm going to stay with you on this one. I would like to know, and I'll ask both of you this. I'll go to Joanne, to Joe after this. But, Andre, what. What kind of growth have you personally experienced, like, as a result of your. Your current role? Like, what's, what's some of the personal benefit that you've gotten out of your role outside of money?

Okay, that's exactly, that's exactly what happened to me when I first joined Virtual Rockstar. Since. For the better part of my career, I have been doing. Since there is a. There's a difference between recruiting and talent acquisition. For the better part of my career, I've been recruiting. Recruitment's just filling a hole, and that's what I did. I. I recruited nurses for travel contracts, and really the only reason for it was money business. But now, since I transitioned into virtual rock star, it's more about hearing people, empathizing with them, knowing their story, and knowing what. What kind of personalities would go well with a client. It's been a game changer for me to do this instead of what I was doing before, because it's not just money that's the driving force in what I'm doing. It's. It's a passion and it's. It's fulfillment every single day. I. It's very fulfilling knowing that there I'm. I'm making a difference in the work that I do. Not just with VAs, but also with our. With our clients that are in the US Struggling. Struggling to make time for their family, struggling with their business. And it's really, really fulfilling for me. So that's the word today. Fulfilling.

Yeah, it's a ripple effect. Remember that conversation we had, like, almost a year ago?

Yeah, I. I mean, both of you, this is true. Just because we're talking to Andre, I just. Yeah, you're. You're meant for so many big things, like their. Your name is going to be well known, and it's. It's because of that passion and that urgency, and I think there's so much, like, humanity to that aspect of it. Andre, I appreciate you saying that. Joe, what about you? Like, what's. What's something that you. What's. How have you personally grown from being a va. The outside of money? Like, of course you have way better, like, balance with your kids, and like, of course the money's better. But, like, what's, what's some. How have you grown as a person.

During this journey, I would copy Andre's word. It's just the sense of fulfillment. I was a VA for the first months that I entered Virtual Rockstar. During that time, I get to have like a conversation with my business owner, the client or the clinic owner. It felt like I was not just an employee to her, you know, like I felt that I am contributing to her business, that my ideas are being seen, my suggestions are being taken seriously. So that's something that, you know, it gives me a butterfly seed wrist just talking about it. Oh, it's because I haven't experienced that kind of boss and employee relationship before. And then when I got promoted into a manager handling 14 virtual assistants, that a total. That's a total different story. I get a sense of fulfillment handling Filipino virtual assistants who had that same feeling when I first entered Virtual Rockstar. You know, they're earning way below and now they're very thankful and very fulfilled with how they work. They have their work life balance. So that's an. That's one aspect that I most feel, the sense of fulfillment and then again the sense of fulfilledness that my owners, Steve and Irene, they have their confidence in me like they, they would give me authority to make decisions in my level, in my department. And that's something that is very empowering as a virtual assistant. Even they're far away. They make you feel like you're something important in the business. And in return, I am very eager to make their business more and more, how do you say, productive. And I want their business to expand more. I want to be with them when they walk. So that's something that's very, very close to my heart. I can feel the butterflies again.

Well, you guys are so amazing. And I can tell you this, that like, for me on that end, it's so empowering to hear how this position is empowering you. Right. Because I think again, where people get it wrong when it comes to this idea of overseas help, Whether it's called VAs or anything else, is that people are. Those companies oftentimes aren't taking in the humanity of the people on the other end of the phone. And when you're trying to do a business model where you're trying to get cheap links, labor, that's very different than working with leaders who have and creating new opportunities and rockstars. Here's my, my experience. People in the States, we're talking healthcare practice providers, especially the PTs, OTs and SLPs that I've worked with, they are, I think, some of the best, best employers or leaders for people in the Philippines. Because no one gets into our industry for money ever. Like, we are in it because of love and wanting to be leaders. We just need people who can support the vision. So the first time I hired someone overseas, her name is Ann. This was in 2021. I hired her through a company kind of like ours now, and there's a lot of good companies out there. I found this person and she cried when I hired her, and she was really open to, like, supporting me in everything I could. So I poured into her and she grew and made more money. And eventually she found a job making way more money somewhere else that I couldn't keep up with. And I just remember, like, that whole journey for me, rock stars, that was more impactful than becoming a healthcare provider. And I don't say that lightly. Being a healthcare provider is still who I am. But the reason I'm so passionate about this is because it's so amazing to see both the practice owners get the kind of help that they desperately need while they're able to mentor and grow some of the best human beings on the planet. So it's really cool to see how that goes. What would you guys say are the biggest challenges of being a virtual assistant in. In your current roles? I'm really curious what Andre is going to say, but Joe, you go first.

Okay. Well, the challenge is, well, I would say the communication with the virtual assistants, like, if you don't have. Because some of them are working in the provinces, we're not in the same city, even though we're in the same country, Right?

Yeah. A bunch of violence.

So the communication, that's one of the biggest challenge as at the start, because we don't know each other personally, we haven't seen each other personally face to face. So building a relationship with this virtual assistants is very important so that they can be open to me and I can be open to them. So that is one of the biggest challenges if you're leading a team of virtual assistants from my perspective. But once you encounter that barrier with communication, you get to know them personally, you share their passion, their vision, you know, a little bit of the story of their family. They're more than willing to open up, and then you have like, a synergized relationship within the team with the same goal, and then you embody that. That relationship through your bosses or through your owners, and then everybody's happy.

Yeah. So communication is big, culture is big. But once that's in place, it accelerates. Andre, same question.

Okay, so.

Where do I start again. Well, I might say it's very challenging, but I think the most obvious thing that stands out is since we are a people business and there are challenges on both sides, not just with our VAs, but with our clients. Not just with our clients, but with our prospective clients. We are, I'd say, the middleman behind it all. So.

Challenges will be coordination.

Coordination of all the different moving parts between the owners and the employees.

Yeah. And setting up not just with that, but also with expectations. Making sure that expectations are aligned not just with our. Our partners, but also our bas. Because.

Sometimes.

Over promising might be a problem. Right. In. In this. In this industry. Over promising?

I'd say that's the number one challenge that I am dealing with.

How do you mean over promising? What does that mean? Like, how do we. What do you mean by over promising?

Let's just say.

Our.

Let's start from the BA side. So Vas, they. They. On the interview, they say more stuff that they can actually handle.

Got it.

I've seen this happen a lot of times. And also not just on our va, on our VA side, but with the partner side, I'd say this is not over promising. It's under promising. They initially hired them for. For a set of tasks that are just this, this, and that. That. They end up doing a whole lot of other stuff.

They become super VAs, where they're being hired for one thing, but then after they get hired, they're doing 30 things and they're overwhelmed.

Yeah, that. That thing doesn't fly well if it isn't the right person. Because the right. Because the VA might take it the wrong way. This is currently happening all over our company. Not to. Not to expose.

I don't care. I want. I don't want this to be a commercial for Virtual Rockstar. I really want this to be a raw, real episode for people. Because obviously, I believe in our company, but I'm not trying to sell my services. This is just using what we. In this topic of freedom, helping people understand the pros and cons. So, like, our problems are going to be. Maybe some of them are unique to us, but I'm guessing a lot of companies go through this. So, like, this. This thing that you're talking about is really important for people to hear.

Definitely. Yeah. I'd say that's more like training and onboarding expectations. Because clients often expect bas just to hit the ground running. You actually covered this in a previous episode, but every clinic or business, they have different systems, misaligned expectations about training or responsibilities. Can cause frustration on both sides of this, of this setup.

Yeah, you're such a good salesman that we've, you know, you've gone from a place of when you've gotten recruits that you're ready to prep them for interview, you used to be able to, like, help them get ready for the interview and be like, hey. But now you're realizing, like, no, just show up like you are, and let's try to get to the raw nature so that you don't oversell yourself. And then on my end, that's what I see as well, is you have these owners who are like, I don't even know if I want a va. And then it works out so well that they just start dumping on them. Like, it's kind of this, you know, and so you're, you're in the middle, like you said, helping. Because we don't just like, stop at hire. You're. You're in there as well as Denise and others from our customer satisfaction team trying to resolve those issues. And vas, I will say this. Filipinos. Is it fair to say this? The culture of the Philippines is so respectful that sometimes it might challenge some VAs to be upfront with their employers.

That's. You're 100% on the money there. Will we definitely avoid difficult conversations if we, if we could, we're non confrontational. And that could sort of present a problem because it's, it's just gonna boil. It's gonna boil, boil. Then a few months later, it's, it's gonna become a big problem, like, oh, I can't take it anymore. It's gonna come to the point of burnout.

Yeah. And then they quit. And you're like, what happened? It's like, what happened there? It's so interesting because, you know, the culture is partly what I fell in love with in this journey in the Philippines because it's, it's got, it's got its own flavor and it's kind of Americanized. But the hard working, sincere, best people, I just are coming from that culture. And to a fault, like, all of our weaknesses are just our strengths amplified. So this respectful nature turns into a limitation if we aren't like helping people. Because in America, an employee would never have a problem saying, yeah, I don't like that. You know, they'd be like, if anything, you have the opposite problem where people are. You find as an employer, you're trying your employees, you might feel like you're trying to please your employees because they're constantly upset about things. So It's a good problem to have, but it still results in failure if it's not addressed. Yeah. So, okay guys, let's talk about what you wish private practice owners would know about hiring a va. Like what would you want them to know? As someone who's like getting started in this journey, what would you want them to know? Take your time. I'm going to start with Joe. But just what would you tell a potential person who's going to hire a virtual assistant? What would you want them to know about that experience?

Well, I just want them to know that they're in for a surprise.

As we say, Filipino VAs are very hardworking. Like you throw them a training sheet or a training document, give them one to two days and they'll be able to do it. We are very like self studying, self training. We're used to that. But I just wish for the owners to know that we are also looking for.

Dynamics. Like I know the clinical job is pretty routine area.

Yeah.

Like we do the same task every day. There are several updates that would come up in the medical field, but not that much. So like with, with Mike Wall, I have suggested to create programs for the VA's like point of point of contact programs for each clinics where I encourage one person every month to do a leadership role, like for the whole team and rotate every month so that it's not gonna be routine narrative for them. So it's something that I again, I'm very grateful to Irene and Steve because all of my suggestions they take by heart.

Yeah, they're great leaders. Irene and Steve are phenomenal.

Yes. And when I suggested for, for us to have like a, an incentive program every month for a top performer va, I did not, you know, they did not second guess about it. They just loved the idea and also came up with the same idea with the pts. Right now the physical therapists have their own scorecards and they have their awards, but their awards are brutal. Like with, with us, we only have the top performer. The PTs, they have their top and bottom performer. The bottom performer gets like a trophy. That is a poop trophy.

Oh, wow.

Very brutal. But again, it's Steve's humor, so it's being funny.

Yeah.

So there. I just wish that some of the owners would know that we are also looking for those kinds of like some a little bit of excitement apart from our routineary jobs every day.

So I love that beeps be get ready for a surprise. And I think you said like trust, you know, you know, once you get a relationship established to trust Them be surprised that you can trust them and it will go well. Andre, what would you want the potential owners to know about this experience?

Okay, I think this would really be an interesting topic for me since I actually, I.

Well, let me just begin by saying I wish they would, I wish they'd know to hire for potential and not just for skills.

Yeah, I, I know you touched on this a lot of times in the past in previous episodes because I, I listen to this podcast religiously.

Every time I go on a walk, I listen to this. But anyway, it means you're not just checking off a list of past experiences, but you're actually looking deeper at someone's ability to learn quickly, grow into a role, adapt to challenges and bring that fresh energy into a team. A VA might not have used your exact EMR or scheduling tool, but if they've shown initiative, critical thinking, and I'd say resilience in similar environments, chances are they would, they would get there fast. They excel in that role because tools can be taught, skills can be learned. But there's just some stuff that you cannot just change like curiosity, humility and the tenacity to get things done. Those come from within and you just cannot teach that. And I hope, I hope our potential partners would, would hold that in higher regard than just a specific set of skills. But you know, skills are. You've got to have the foundation right, they've got to have some sort of experience. But I hope they're not as nitpicky with the technical aspect of it all.

Andre, that was gold. Rockstars. I need to punch something really powerful that Andre just laid out. Listen to what he said. Not even from just hiring someone overseas, but hiring in general. Hire for potential, hire for mindset and alignment with culture. Don't worry about skill set. And you know, Andre, it's interesting because I think that's, that's the biggest takeaway rock stars I want you to hear from Andre is like these are people, these are human beings in the Philippines with unlimited potential. Rockstars, you've heard me say this before and I'm going to say it again. And this is where for my background being faith based, is that if we are in my world, children of God and we have unlimited potential in life and we can become creators because it's literally in our DNA. That isn't unique to any country. Those are, those are man made boundaries that are silly. This whole thing about humanity is what matters. I have met the best leaders with zero formal training in the Philippines because they have focus they have heart. So when you're hiring, whether it's the Philippines or not, and especially if you're, like, considering ever going to the Philippines to not find someone who's going to do the silly things that you don't want to do and be worried about the accent or whatever, I'm hoping these episodes are clearing that up in real time. What I hope you'll take from this is you hire for heart and potential, because I will tell you, and I'm not saying this to be nice, you are going to hear these people's names. You are going to hear Andre's name. I can say that more definitively because he's directly under my wing. You are going to know Andre. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with in this world. And that's why I hired him. So I did that. Look, I just really love that you say that, Andre, because I wish people would know that, too, is that this is not just like offloading crap they don't want to do. It's about building the best team they could have ever dreamed of with the right people. And now it's starting to sound a little bit like a commercial. So we're going to shift gears to artificial intelligence. It's just. But it's how I feel. It's how I feel. It's what this is, and it's why I'm so passionate about it. So let's get into artificial intelligence. I'm really excited about going there with you guys, because I was told, this is true, that if I don't start looking at artificial intelligence as an owner of a virtual assistant company, that we're going to be dead in the water in 10 years. Some have said, last time, I want to know how you guys are thinking about. Let's start with Andre. So do you think that AI is going to replace virtual assistants?

No. Definitely not. I would say.

No. Definitely no. AI falls short on a lot of things AI can't do, a lot of things that VAs can do. But moving forward, one of the biggest misconceptions right now is that AI is here to take your jobs. You should be scared. AI is here to replace people. But the truth is, especially when we're talking about virtual assistants, it's not about competition. It's more about collaboration. VAs, who are really thriving right now, are not scared of AI. They're the ones using it to really supercharge the productivity. Well, think about it. AI can help you drop reports. Even something as simple as drafting an email, right? For Marketing stuff, brainstorming content, summarizing long emails, generate leads, even handle really boring, repetitive admin tasks. Things that would normally eat up hours upon hours, but now a VA can do all of that in just in minutes. So instead of replacing their role, AI would become a really powerful sidekick. It frees up the VA to focus on high value tasks like communication strategy and personal touches. Personal human touches that AI can just can't replicate. I'd say the VAS who would win in this space are the ones who treat AI like a tool and not as a threat. They're learning how to use it to their advantage and that makes them 10 times more efficient and even more indispensable. So VAS free up the practice owners, right? Yeah, AI's free up the BAS.

That's so cool.

Factors in the whole equation.

Seth, did you hear that? This is real time. I want even, I want this to be recorded, by the way. Seth, I want you as my creative stuff specialist to hear that. Let's do, let's put that out there. So yeah, VA's free up practice owners or no VA free up practice owners. AI's free up VAs. That is so cool. Joanna, do you, Joe, do you, do you agree with that or.

I do. Feel free to disagree, though I do agree 100%.

If I just would correlate it to what's happening right now. Within our clinic, we used chat GPT. I encourage my VAs to use chatGPT for emails. Why? Because the our VAS are multitasking. They are receiving calls, doing welcomeware check ins and then answering to emails. So if it's a general email, like just asking for a schedule or something that is very general, they already have a template made by chatgpt to respond to that, which helps a lot. Right. But again, ChatGPT won't be able to respond if the patient would respond on a more personal level, like going to ask for something specific within their schedule. So that's when the VAS would come in. Again, when I would quote what Andre said about the human touch. So VAS would have the adaptability, flexibility and of course the human touch and interaction in each of the tasks that we do with welcomeware, it's pretty automatic when you put up the, or the paperwork in the screen, the patient can just sign on the screen and something like that. But most of the patients, what we come for at the kiosk is the smiles of the VAs. How did I know that? Because of the survey in welcomeware. Welcomeware has a survey that's by the.

Way, for those who are listening, welcomeware is the company that we work with for kiosks. We're big fans. Yeah.

Okay. So it's super great because they have a survey and then the patients can write down what they think about the interaction with the VA's. So when we started, the patients were very skeptic about like the video interaction. But when they saw the, you know, the personalized way, how the VA stuff to them, I would say, oh, I love your hat. How do you do today? And something like that, they feel a human interaction even though we are far away or even though we're not in the clinics. So this. The AI tools, they make our life easier. But again, clinics won't survive without a human interaction, especially with patients.

Yeah, I love that. My vision for this and who knows for sure, but my vision for this is that the health. The companies are going to have the health care providers, the owners and then everything else will be AI through va. And I love your vision of like we did not chat about this before audience rock stars. Like I really wanted to know what they thought I didn't know. And it's cool to see that they're using this as a tool. You know, the AI is used as a tool to supercharge the VAs. So then Andre, back to you. Like what are your. Joe mentioned some of her tools. What are the tools that you love to use that are AI based?

Well, not to be the back in my day guy, I usually.

But back in your day.

Well, as much as possible, I. I don't use AI to drop my emails if I can help it. But if it's something that's really long, I would, I would use AI. I just use. Currently I just use Gemini to do stuff. Our.

Why Gemini over chatgpt? Just out of curiosity, because those are similar products.

It's free and faster and it's like a similar.

Do you know that I pay for the advanced Gemini version for our virtual Rockstar? As a side note, you have access to the. The highest level of virtual. Just this might be. Seth, we might want to cut this. But just so you know, we have access to the highest level.

I don't know that. I don't know that we're paying for anything right now. I'm just very manual the way that I source people. Okay. So there's this AI tool called Vivian. I'm not sure if you know that it's a recruiting tool that just screens resumes for you. Oh yeah, yeah, that's. That's Vivian.

But you have to use. Because you have hundreds of applicants for every open position that you hire for, you have hundreds of applicants. So you use some AI to help.

You screen to some degree. Yeah, but there's nothing beats like you just screening the resume. Because sometimes there's a lot of times that AI gets it wrong, just picks up a few words and then calls it a good buyer. So what we use in our ats, it's called Zoho. I'm pretty sure, you know, that you pay for it.

There to some degree. There is an AI function there that ranks the resumes based on how qualified they are for the position. And I'm not sure how it does that, but I. Sometimes I use it. I. I ran their resumes, but I would still need to use my human eye, my own discernment, to judge these resumes based on how good they would fit for the role. Because AI doesn't catch stuff like longevity or, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All those, like, human nuances that are part of your personal background and experience, almost the feel of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's just like. Like I said, I. There's just some stuff that AI cannot replicate. It can catch words like, on the skills part of the resume, it can catch, like, let's just say, EMRs. It picks up a certain EMR and places that candidate very high up the list. But then again, you take a look at the resume and see, oh, this candidate has been jumping from job to job within the last few months. Even they've had three jobs in the past six months. And to me, that's not as attractive as what AI is telling me. So I guess that would be the most relevant AI application that I use in my job. But pretty much everything is manual. I do.

I love that. All right, so I want to now ask you guys, what is a part of your job that you wish AI could take over? And what's a part of your job that you hope AI will never touch? Let's start with.

I'll go first. Yeah, Insurance verification, please take it away.

Take it away.

You know, it's just calling these insurance companies. It's just taking a lot of time. Oh, it's. Yeah. The waiting line on the phone is like, over 30 minutes. When, in fact, if we have AI who would run insurance verification can do it in a minute. So I really pray and hope that we do have an AI for insurance verification and authorization request as well. So that would take a lot of, you know, the stuff from our shoulders and then what I wish AI Wouldn't take away is still the check in process because you have a very personal.

Human, you guys are patient facing on screens. Like you're very progressive. You don't want that to go away.

No, I don't. Because having a relationship with a patient, it's something that is vital to our jobs.

My virtual assistants, they feel very connected when they talk to patients. Like most of the patients in the pts are going there twice a week. Twice a week. Say they practically know each other. Like when they see each other in the screen, they would say, how did your week go? You said you were going to be on vacation. What happened then? So it's something that is again taking them out of the routine task every day. Just having a conversation with those patients is something very refreshing in experiencing our day to day task. So no, I don't wish for that to go away.

It's interesting because a lot of people, when I talk to very successful progressive people, Joe, they tell me they're like, well, I don't want to work with VAs because I'm worried about losing the human touch. Isn't that so funny that the thing that you hope AI never touches is the fact that you guys are owning the human touch so well. And in that practice we've seen increases in percentages of arrival. So I love that you shared that. Andre, same question.

Okay, so if there's one thing that I wish AI could do better, it's screening resumes. But on a human level, like you.

Want that off your plate, you would love for it just to be like, here's your best 10.

Yes, exactly. Not just keyword matching or checking for buzzwords, but actually sensing the potential in someone. Like, can this person grow with the client? Are they a good cultural fit? Are they hungry, coachable and adaptable? Those are the things that don't always show on paper. And I'm not sure how AI would do that, but maybe the future, right? I'd love it if AI could just handle the initial grunt work, just sift through the noise shortlist based off of values or soft skills that align with what clients need and that just neatly slot interviews into one block of my calendar. Like choose your interview power hour. Back to back high potential candidates go. That would be amazing.

Oh, freaking cool.

I love that even with all that automation, well, I don't think I'd ever want to fully give up that human connection. I For me, recruiting just isn't about matching skills. I I I'm a big proponent of that. I it's about seeing people their Energy, their communication, their passion. I still want to be the one to talk. That would guide them and say, root for them. That part, that's the part that AI just can't replace. And honestly, I wouldn't want it to. But maybe someday in the future where AI could develop feelings of its own.

And, yeah, maybe one day. I think that's an interesting perspective, because right now, again, what's interesting, when people look at AI versus VAs, there's this, like, conception for many beginners that VAs is a distancing from the relationship because people aren't physically in a room. Not that that doesn't create challenges, but there's definitely still a human. As long as you get the right human, it's going to be more than fine. If the AI ever gets to that point where it can match that, I have a feeling that the world will be at such an advanced place that most people don't have to work. We're probably gonna have more than enough food and water and shelter and opportunity to live a different life. But until then, I agree that connection just can't go away. All right, let's get into our rapid fire. We're at the end of our podcast. We're do some rapid fire. A little bit different with YouTube versus what we're doing across the board, because I want to be more VA specific. So let's answer as briefly and quickly as we can. We're gonna go Joe, then Andre, and. And then we'll reverse it just to kind of match it up. So, Joe, starting with you, what's your favorite part of the job?

Talking to my bas.

Talking to your bas, Andre.

Connecting people with the right opportunities.

Love that. What's the least favorite task you still have to do, Andre? I guess you answered it.

Same. Sometimes it might end up being a bad hire and have to do it all over again.

Yeah. Repetition in the work. Got it. Joe, what's your least favorite task you still have to do?

You know it. Insurance verification. Yeah.

All right. What's your. What's the one thing that made you cry, happy or sad since becoming a va, Joe?

Happy tears.

But what was one thing. What was one thing that made you cry?

My va Telling me how much time she has now spent when she has a toddler, she has more time with her toddler. She's crazy. Crying and just bawling. She can't believe she got a job like this.

Wow, Andre.

Okay, so this is not really rapid fire, but there's this one time where there. There's this VA that just Thanked me. She was on our candidate pool for, like, two months, and then she told me that.

I really. I really want to thank you because it's been months since we've had something decent to eat, and. Wow, that's so humbling to me.

Wow.

It's been. Wow. Like, that. Maybe I didn't cry, like, actual tears, but emotionally, I was really humble. I was like, oh, that. It's that kind of impact that we are putting out.

Yeah. I love that I'm going to answer it, because I feel like I need you guys to know, for me, it was when I met you guys in person in the Philippines, that. That day, that night, I went. I got on my knees and just thank God that I got a chance to meet you guys. All right, moving on. Number 18.

Okay, let's get into this next question. Joe, if your practice owner is listening right now, what's one thing you want? You'd want them. What would you like to say to them?

I just want to thank them for.

Letting me be a part of the organization, like, really be a part of the organization. They gave me authorization. They gave me liberty to make decisions for the business, and I'm just so happy to be a part of it.

Oh, Joe, that's great. Well, I am gonna have to change that answer to that previous question.

I just want to add something to that. Will. I just want to add something to that. I think it's because of your leadership. That's why the business owners, the culture that we set, you set for all the clients that we have, they have the same. Same drive and the same attitude towards their vas. I think it's what sets our rockstar va apart. It's because you embody the culture with the clients, and the clients would also embody it through their VAs. That's why we feel so valued and seen. We feel so seen, valued and very important. So I thank you for that. Because, you know, not all the agency owners would exert the effort to, you know, to have their culture pass on to the clients. Not everybody does that. So I really want to thank you for that.

Well, that. That means a lot to me. It was one of the reasons I was so excited to have you on the show. You are people that I want to be like. So that means a lot to me, and I. I will tell you this, and I want the rock stars to hear this too, is that this is what happens when we hire great people. You is they see the good in us. I've had employees, Joe and Andre, that thought I was the worst. And there was a time where that was probably true. But I will tell you that the biggest difference in terms of value for me, in terms of like my purpose has been to just surround myself with people who see the good side of me and believe in that. And let me just tell you, it is so easy, you guys make it so easy to see the good side and what's potential for you. So rock stars, as you're listening, that's what's possible. When we hire great people, they, they are able to see the good and help you overcome the challenges that you face, which for me are many. Joe and Andre, I can't thank you enough. I have to, I have to now pivot this to the question I'm asking at the end of all of these episodes and honestly answer. It's the final definitive question of the interview. Is it VA or is it AI?

It's definitely a colam. A high X VA collab. Looking forward.

Hey Seth, the wonderful and powerful special creative specialist. Let's mark that on the screen for the YouTubers and the people who are watching this podcast keeping tally of the score. Yeah, I want to thank you both for, for everything. I don't even know how to begin to thank you other than just to say, at least for now, for being on the show and being yourselves and for all the amazing work you do. The lives that you both of you change are many and it's not lost on the people who are fortunate enough to get to work with both of you. I would love to just turn it over, some parting words, final messages. Joe.

Well, if you're a VA and you're watching this podcast or you're listening to this podcast, just be brave, go out there, explore. There's a lot of opportunities in the VA world so you just gotta equip yourself with skills, don't be afraid to apply certain resume and just build your confidence from zero. You know, not everyone is confident at first, but as you build yourself, you talk to different people, you try and try. You'll get there someday and you'll experience the best, highest paying jobs. The best, the best of the both worlds because you have time for yourself and for your family.

Man, such a great closing words. Thanks for tuning into the Willpower podcast. As always, this is Will Humphreys reminding you to lead with love, live on purpose and never give up your freedom. Until next time.