#28: Let's Delegate with Guest, Siane Li of The Stay at Home Career Mom

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We're Erika Radis and Marie Lifschultz, a San Antonio area realtor and lender, but most importantly, we're working moms.

The goal of this podcast is to provide support and a sense of community to San Antonio area working moms like us.. So join us in trying to find a balance between career, family, and everything in between. Welcome to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. We're here with Sia Lee, and she's a virtual assistant, and we're going to kind of turn it over to her to talk about her services and her work.

Hi everyone, my name is Sia. Or TMB, and I am a mom of 3 kids, and I'm also a work-from-home mom. I am a virtual assistant, and I help business owners, entrepreneurs, or busy professionals manage their workload. I organize their tasks for them. I help them manage their day, and they give me tasks to help them with their business, but virtually. So I work from home, and I just, uh, I own my own business, so I also manage my own hours, and I just love the flexibility of this work. Got it.

Asea, can you tell us a little bit of a reason of why you started your virtual business your virtual assistant business?

So I've been working remotely since 2018 or 2019. I am a sales consultant for a tech company in North Carolina, and I have been managing the business, the day-to-day, and even the sales side of the business with international clients also. So I think it is really great to have this kind of opportunity, especially that I am a mom and that I'm able to take care of my children while working from home. Of course, I also need my husband's support. Uh, he's also taking care of my kids, but he also lets me have my own career while also being a mom. Because I know a lot of us, we are workaholics. I work a lot before being a mom, and the transition is really different. It's really hard for me now that I am just staying at home. But I told my husband that I also want to have my own career. I don't want to be dependent, especially financially. So he supported me all the way. Now it's juggling being a mom and being a virtual assistant is really good. It's really beneficial for me as a mom in regards to my mental health also. Oh, sure.

That's wonderful. I know it's great. I think a lot of us try to choose careers. You know, I always tell people like, hey, I had children not for other people to raise them. I wanted to be the one to be there. I want to be able to attend whatever activity they have during the day or help out with schoolwork as much as I can. So choosing a career that allows you to have both, have, you know, be a successful mom and then also a successful career is always a bonus.

Right.

And I'm very blessed to have those. So that's awesome.

Yeah.

And I love that you touched on like the mental health side of it too, because I feel the same way. Like I like to work and I like my job. Um, and so, and you're right, I mean, it is, it's beneficial if that's what you want to be doing. It's beneficial for your mental health. You know, we get to do the things that we love, and some of those things are being a mom, and some of those things are also working, you know. And so it's kind of, I love that, I love that.

I think it's a great example we give the kids, like, you can do it all, you really can, you know, as you find a balance with it. You have to choose things that work for your, your lifestyle. And I like that the The kids see me being at home. I can make dinner. I can help, you know, with chores and help with homework, but also I work when I need to work.

So are your, like, are your clients pretty understanding of the fact that you are working from home and that your kids are around and that kind of thing?

Yes. Uh, that's really important for me. That's how I showcase my business. I am a stay-at-home mom. I am a working mom. And I take care of my kids. My kids are my priority, but it's not an excuse. So whenever I have a meeting with them, sometimes my baby's on my lap and they can see my baby. I'm working with them, they can hear the TV on sometimes. So that's why I make sure that my clients understand my situation and they, they know about it, they appreciate it. And especially when COVID hit, they know that everyone's working from home and they understand our situation as moms.

Yeah, it kind of became the norm, I think, for everybody. Like, oh, hold on, my kid's screaming. Give me a second. So I know I had to, even though, I mean, I have an office that I work out of, but I choose to work from home when I need to, especially during the summer. I want to be around them. But yeah, I think that became kind of the norm with COVID because everybody was remote at that point. We figured out how to make it work. So I saw something the other day, I think I was telling Erika that there was a meme or something I saw online that said, if you want a successful, you know, hire someone, hire a working mom. They can multitask, they can do everything kind of at one time because they juggle everything.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I like that you've incorporated being a stay-at-home mom into your branding, right? Because you're the Stay-at-Home Career Mom, right? That's your company. And so I think that's so genius. People. It sets the expectations right away. I'm a stay-at-home career mom. My kids are going to be here, and if that's okay with you, then we can work together, you know. And so I think that was really, really smart on your part.

Yeah, thank you. And also, I, I tell them that even if I'm a mom and even if I'm a stay-at-home mom, I have the skills and I can work while taking care of my kids or when they're sleeping. I go to my laptop and just do my job.

Right. That's awesome. Um, now, Sia, what type of businesses typically utilize a virtual assistant?

Yes, there are different kinds of virtual assistants. It depends on their specialty or it depends on their niche. So some are social media managers, some are, um, general administrative assistant, assistant, and some are on sales doing phone calls, outbound calls, you know, just people reaching out to you. But for me, before I started my business, I did a lot of work. It's so big, it's so broad. I try to get as much clients as I can, but I realized that it doesn't work. So I have to have my own niche. And since mental health and motherhood is really important to me, it's close to my heart. So I, um, I decided to work with therapists, mental health therapists.

Oh, I love that. Yeah, you get to help people, um, in a topic that's important to you. So that's kind of a neat way to niche down and, and probably pretty easy to relate to for you then.

Yes, I'm not the one talking to the clients, but I help the therapist manage their workload so they can be a better therapist. They can provide care better without, you know, the back end that's bothering them.

Right. Yeah, they get to do what they love and you get to do what you love. So that's kind of a best of both worlds situation. Um, great. Well, and so what does a typical workday look like for you? Are you helping people all day long, um, or is it kind of sparse, or how does that work for you?

I have my own hours. I tell them that I have my packages, like they can do 20 hours per month, 30 hours per month, or 40. 40 hours per month is the busiest, but usually They get me for a task that doesn't require me to be on my laptop for a long time, or I can be flexible with my hours, like managing their social media or their blogs or website. I can work on it at night and just schedule it for them, and then I just monitor my hours and invoice it to them at the end of the month. Or they can also, they can also give me the task that they need before the start, before the week starts, and I can finish it for them for the whole week. Oh, that's pretty flexible.

Yeah. And you kind of know what to expect then too, which is probably nice.

Yeah.

Well, it sounds like you have to be really organized and kind of on top of your game and kind of know, are there Are there any tips here that you could give working moms who maybe are kind of struggling with, hey, I might need to hire a virtual assistant, but I'm not quite there yet? Maybe I don't— is there some things that maybe that you do that might help a working mom out that, hey, this is how I schedule my day and this is how I can complete some of these tasks? Maybe that's something you can share with our community.

I think the best thing, the best advice that I could give them is they have to invest in theirs and in themselves. So they have to learn what they want to do, what or how they do it. There's a lot of free resources online, YouTube or even Coursera, a lot of online resources that's free and they can learn from it, especially if they're doing their own business, they don't have the budget yet to hire someone. They can follow other people online that's doing their job, and they can just follow it and put it in their business. And I think for our— for organization, uh, the best thing they can do for their business is they have to focus on one task first. They can't multitask on a lot of things. They have to, uh, list the— list the things that they need for the day and just finish it step by step.

That's good advice. Yeah, I know, you know, with work and stuff, you can think about— and I, I'm like a list person. I like to write things down and cross it off, even if it's like super mundane stuff. It makes me feel good to cross it off. Um, but I'm like that because oftentimes if I don't write stuff down or get organized like you're talking about for the day, I'm constantly thinking like that thought keeps creeping up in the back of my mind. Oh yeah, you've got to do that next week. You've got to do that next week. You've got to do that next week. And it's not something I have to even do right now, but then I start feeling overwhelmed because it's like, I've got all this stuff, but then this other thing is back here and I just feel like it can get to be a lot. So you're right. Just making a list for the day and just doing that, I'm sure is helpful. And I mean, I find it helpful for me when I do that, like I'm supposed to. Yeah.

I struggle with like, I used to do very well in a previous role. I time blocked. So I knew for sure, like, like I would get up before my children a lot of the times and work very early in the morning because I'm my best early in the morning. So I would get up, work, you know, do certain things I needed to do, then wake them up, get them ready for school, make breakfast and lunches and so forth, and then send them off and then do other things. But in my role now, because I'm more in sales and I'm kind of driven by when my phone rings, I don't know how to time block my time as well. So I'm not as productive. As I should be. So I might be working on a task that I need to get done that day. My phone rings, I stop that task, and then I, I pick up the phone and I get distracted and I'm like, hey, what was I doing? And I have to start back over to figure out what I, where I was. So I'm not the best at being organized because of how I manage my phone. And that's the part that I need to like turn my phone off for just a little bit so I can get my tasks done so I can focus on one thing, like you said.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, I'm often jealous of people that just know exactly what to like to expect from their workday day to day, you know what I mean? In our industry, like Marie said, things can be kind of all over the place and you do have to be flexible. And so sometimes I think to myself what it must be like to just know what your workday will look like every single day and you just are like there to do it, you know?

Yeah, my day changes every day, so it's like, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I do try to set appointments and I block I do block, obviously, when we're doing our recordings and stuff like that. I block those times off, but then I'm like, my phone, as of right now, my phone is still going off and I'm like, I'm busy. Wait.

Yeah. I think I also have— I remember I also have an advice regarding email organization or file organization. I always tell my clients, if you don't need it, just delete or archive it. Yeah. So a lot of people, they think that they need something. Like their files or images that they save in their laptop and they're not going to use it for years. And I just tell them, just archive or delete it. It just takes up space in your memory or in your laptop. So, yeah, that's a good point. That's really helpful.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I do the same thing. Like, I, I, I, I, I use my inbox for my emails, my to-do list. So I know if it's in my inbox, I need to do. So I don't, I don't archive them. I sometimes delete them depending on what it is, but I do move them into folders so they're out of my view if it's not something I need to work on.

Yeah, I should be more like that. My inbox is just full of stuff. It's so crazy in there and sometimes it stresses me out to open it. But that's okay. So, Sia, we often ask people on our podcast what their favorite thing is about what they're doing. And so we want to know what your favorite thing is.

So my favorite thing in my job as a mom and as a virtual assistant is to be able to take care of my children while working. It's the flexibility, the hours that I can work at my own pace. And also, since I'm staying at home with my kids all the time, or most of the time, I, I have this ability to talk to an adult because I'm always watching, you know, kids shows and singing and taking care of them, changing diapers. So for my mental health, I love that I'm able to do this job and also having an adult conversation with professionals. Yes, I remember that.

That's so true. I know, me too, right? Like, just, I mean, the only— for a while, you know, when I was I would, because I was a stay-at-home mom as well for a little while, um, and the only adult conversation I had was with my husband when he came home from work. You know, you don't talk to adults all day long, and so I totally get that. And I love that you even mentioned that because a lot of people I think don't even speak up about that kind of thing. You know, they just sort of are there and suffering in silence a little bit, you know.

Yes.

So, and then lastly, we usually ask our guests to let our listeners know how they can get a hold of them for all of their services.

Yes, I have a website, it's www.thesahcm.com. I'm also on Instagram as @thesahcm.com.

Okay, perfect. And we will put some of that stuff into our show notes so that way people can click and get a hold of you for your services. And so yeah, I just want to thank you for being here. I learned a lot about what a virtual assistant does. I learned that I probably need one in life, you know, to help me take care of some of my stuff. Yeah, make my email, uh, inbox look a little less scary. And, um, I want to also thank our listeners for tuning in to this week's episode of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast, and we will just catch you guys next week.

See you guys this week.

Thanks so much for tuning in to the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. Be sure to follow us on social media at our respective Instagram accounts or join our Working Moms of San Antonio Facebook group. Those links can be found in our episode description. If you have an episode topic suggestion or question, please email us at office@erikaradisagent.com. And be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review. See you next week.