Di ka napasa sa board exam, di ka natanggap sa trabaho, or di ka na-promote as office.

These are all forms of rejection.

And it hurts because it mattered.

Rejections are inevitable.

It’s frustrating to experience them but it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.

It just means that the other person failed to notice what you have to offer.

Don’t give up.

Sometimes, rejections are a re-direction — a correction to where you’re supposed to be or to something much better.

It’s better to experience the pain of rejection rather than the pain of regret.

Never allow the fear of rejection to hold you back.

Stay strong.

Meet Lady Asrah.

She used to work as a private and public school teacher for several years.

A complicated pregnancy, which require bed rest, prompted her to stay at home and look for other opportunities to earn.

She took her time learning about freelancing.

She also worked hard to get trained and certified.

Then the idea of being able to earn money from the comfort of her own home amazed her.

Fast forward to today...

She is now earning Php 150,000/month.

Be inspired by her hard work, commitment, and success, on this replay.

INTRODUCTION

She used to work as a private and public school teacher for several years. Her complicated pregnancy, which requires bed rest, prompted her to stay at home and look for other opportunities to earn. She took her time to learn about freelancing. She also works hard to get trained and certified. She is now a successful freelancer earning Php 150,000 a month. 

NOTABLE QUOTES:

• Virtual Assistant Bootcamp has free courses. Sa mga newbie, I highly urge you to take the time to learn about it. They would teach from basics.  They will really guide you. Hindi ako masyadong nahirapan talaga because I really opted to being guided. I educate myself bago ako naghanap ng clients. 
• As a newbie, maraming toxic clients, marami akong nadaan. Dumating iyong few clients that I have right now na masasabi kong worth it talaga iyong patience and determination ko before. Go lang ng go.
• Take your time knowing and thinking about what you want in your life. Alamin mo talaga kung ano talaga iyong gusto mo.
• I would confidently say freelancing is a very promising opportunity for everyone especially may time freedom tayo and I want you to take your time to learn about freelancing. It could offer you a better quality of life depending on of course what you want in your life.
• Before quitting I know I gave up a stable job, but please know that it's not a decision I made overnight, it took me two years. I had to weigh the pros and cons, I prepared myself, learn skills, and got certified up to the point na masasasabi kong confident ako i-offer ko itong skill na ito. 
• I am ready financially. Huwag po tayong mag-quit sa ating stable job especially office job, kapag hindi tayo financially ready. That’s one also, you need to be ready financially before tayo mag-quit.
• Please educate yourself. Invest in courses. I know within me na hindi ako dumating sa point na ito kung hindi talaga ako nag-invest. Hindi ako nag-apply agad ng opportunities without getting trained and getting certified. 
• Believe it, if you really want to pursue freelancing, with enough skills, determination, and, of course believe in our God, definitely your dream is mare-reach mo talaga.
• Tinanggal ko iyong band aid and transitioned full time.
• If you’re not yet ready huwag munang mag-quit sa job. Iyong story ko na shinare, as I said, It took me two years. I had a lot of analysis, pros and cons, and a lot of preparations.

JOURNEY TO FREELANCING

• A graduate of Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.
• She is also a graduate of Master of Science in Teaching High School Mathematics.
• She worked as a private school teacher for 5 years and transitioned to the Department of Education as a public school teacher for three years in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.
• She got promoted as a teacher II, but then her three years as a DepEd teacher.
• In her first year in DepEd as a teacher, she had a failed pregnancy. Her second pregnancy was complicated. So her Obgyn advised her to have complete bed rest and that was no pay. She was three months pregnant at that time.
• Her husband is a DepEd Teacher as well, but during her bed rest, she felt that she had to help her husband with their finances.
• Because of her situation, she couldn't able to stand but she can able to sit. And then, she thought of something. So she did some Google searches, and explore Facebook groups about Freelancing that was around June 2019.
• She educates herself, she registered for a free and paid training course as a starter while she's lying on her bed as a pregnant woman.
• She took different courses and one of them is Virtual Assistant Bootcamp. She was thankful for the free courses offered. This is where she discovered Virtual Assistant Freelancing. She started from there and get clients and started at a small rate.
• She was really happy to be part of DepEd. It was one of the best achievements in her life but she believes that being a teacher is more than just a qualification. For her, being a teacher should be your passion to teach, it should be within you. Teachers do a lot of work and she is proud of her fellow teachers. But she came to realize it was something that she did not want to do, she didn't have the passion. That’s one of the biggest factors why she decided to get out, but then again she is proud of her fellow DepEd teachers.
• On January 1, 2022, She is already a full-time Freelancer.
• She is a full-time Freelance/online employee as well. She did two things at the same time.
• She’s now enjoying her time with her son 24/7 while earning at the comfort of their home

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Were there times when you just simply want to give up?

There were plenty of times, there are a lot of nights especially if I had to be onsite. Of course, I did my best to do the responsibilities of being a teacher kapag nasa school ako. What I did was parang naging graveyard shift ako. Hindi ako makapagtrabaho ng umaga, I had to work hours and hours sa gabi. I slept very late and then I had to wake up early the next day and a lot of it. Dumating po kasi sa point na hindi na ako nakapagperform ng maayos as a DepEd Teacher. Hindi ko na maibigay iyong best ko. Nag-under perform na po ako and I felt na unfair na po siya. A lot of times  I wanted to give up. Actually, I gave up both. But I really thank Lord for some things na ginawa ko and some other things I kept going. I'm honestly happy sa desisyon na ginawa ko. So far no regrets.

When you discover what freelancing is, how did you feel, were you skeptical at first?

No. I actually felt excited about it. I know some would feel skeptical but for me no. I really did a lot of research and I was happy with the results kasi, of course, I found a lot of Facebook pages and I read a lot of life stories and success stories, and it inspires me. 

Sabi mo na wala kang trabaho tapos nagkaroon ng pandemic bale ang asawa mo na lang ang nagtatrabaho para sa inyo. How will you be able to recover when you finally got into freelancing? Tumulong ba sayo ng maigi ang Freelancing sa Finances mo?

I would say yes. After ng course, nakakuha ako ng clients. I was actually shocked by the possible rates. I started with $3 per hour sa Upwork for a few hours a week, malaki na iyon for me. It definitely helped na naitaguyod namin yong pregnancy ko, at Ceasarian section pa ako. I would say yes, napakalaking tulong po talaga iyong part time freelancing ko that time sa finances up until today.

What advice can you give to someone who is a successful freelancer but is having a very hard time with the school?

I advice to do time management. Be very wise with your time. You can always find a lot of resources on how to manage your time. If you are a student I would not advice you to pre-opt school as much as possible please graduate hanggang kaya.

What do you think are the crucial things needed for freelancing?

Kung things na nahahawakan of course you would need equipment. You would need laptop and internet connection among other things. But  I would say first you would need skills and knowledge kasi iyon iyong i-ooffer natin sa clients. Freelancing is like selling your services to clients. 

Did you have to take a risk in giving up your career by choosing to freelance?

Definitely yes, I acknowledged and accepted na malaking risk ang ti-nake ko. I gave up stability, and job security ng Department of Education. I took a big risk and I took the leap. Mas mabigat talaga ang benifits ng freelancing. But for me, it’s worth the risk. 

It was a calculated risk for me. For example, this is the sweldo ni DepEd for one month, I am now earning 45 times. If I will do freelancing for five years that is literally twenty years of me working in DepEd. Kaya ko siyang i-turn way less. That means calculated risk. Hindi ko i-aadvice na jump lang kayo kaagad. No, it has to be a calculated first, for me. 

Looking back on the moments when you were still starting out as a freelancer, have you encountered a certain client that is hard to contact and late when it comes to payment? How did you handle those kinds of clients?

We call those toxic clients.  Kasi for my three years of freelancing I had a lot of clients na dumaan sakin. Many of them ganoon. And I suggest you visit VA Bootcamp. They will actually educate you on how to let go of toxic clients. 

How did I handle it, first, I became a professional hanggang kaya but then again at the end of the day noong naging unhealthy na siya for me I had to let go and look for better ones. 

Ano po niche ninyo, Ma’am?

Right now, I am a website designer, and manager at the same time. I also do Shopify design and management. I also do a graphic design that's why I educated myself with a lot of courses. Kasi  I wanted to offer more to my clients. I also do content writing.

How long do you suggest we learn about freelancing? 

If you have more time to learn it you’re gonna learn it faster. Know which niche and skills you want to learn and it actually depends. Kapag once na ang isang skill na you want to learn is mas mahirap depende sa level of difficulty, of course, it’s gonna take more time for you to learn the skill and for you to be able to market that skill but if medyo nasa expert ka na banda, you just want to own it, you just want to get certified, you’re gonna spend less time. It actually varies.

Could you share with us what were your fears when you were deciding between being a freelancer or/and staying as a teacher?

Marami akong fears and those fears actually paralyzed me kaya tumagal ako ng two years before ako nakapagdecide. Fear ko is hindi siya stable unlike of course sa  government job. Wala kang habol unless na lang may contract. Meaning, less stable siya. My fear is what if mawalan ako ng client. I changed my mindset. What I thought about is I already have the skill. With my training and  experience, I have gotten better with the skill that I have. Kahit papaano nagiging confident ako na kaya kong kumuha ulit ng client. That is what I thought para madefeat iyong fear na puwedeng mawala iyong client mo pero iyong skill, iyong natutunan mo hindi iyon mawawala. That is what you have na hindi mawawala sa iyo. 

Could you tell us briefly about your experience in getting a client?

My experience in getting a client, started with my very first client, I had to type data from a photo to a Microsoft Excel. Lots of patience talaga. I do not enter the world of Freelancing na parang feeling mo na ibibigay sa iyo iyong opportunity. You really have to work for it. 

Paano mo malalaman kung ano ang niche mo? Anong niche ang puwede kapag teaching ang background?

I personally started by asking myself. There are two ways kasi. First is alamin mo yong hilig mo. Ako kasi gusto ko magdesign. I opted for web design and graphic design, iyon yung pinursue ko. Gladly, nakapaghanap ako ng clients na nagaavail ng services ko. Second thing that you can actually do is, some successful freelancers do this kahit hindi nila passion, kahit hindi nila gusto basta alam nilang premium na skill iyon na they will earn better sa skill o niche na iyon, iyon ang pinupusue nila. 

About naman sa teaching background, kapag teacher ka marami kang skill. First, if you are a teacher more likely you are good at customer service or dealing with people. Although iba iyong dealing with customers or iba rin iyong dealing with students and parents. Kasi kapag teacher you’re good at designing our learning materials. You may have that skill or desire as well to do design. You can opt for graphic design.